Our daily homily

!1|1

'1:1'''-!''

w

Ml;;.-'

iiiiJiiiiilitiiii:.

j'lihi.iiiil:

UBRARY OF PRINCETON

JUN 5 2003

THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

BS 491 .M49 1898 v. 2
Meyer, F. B. 1847-1929.
Our daily homily

I

Our Daily Homily

Vol. II: I Samuel— Job

THE

COMPLETE IVORKS

OF

REV.
For

F. B. MEYER, B.A.

complete descriptive list

of mr

. oMejyer's writings, see

the concluding pages of this vol-

ume.

oill of the hooks there

named will he sent, post free, on

receipt

of price.

Our Daily Homily

Volume II : I Samuel- Job

By the Rev.

F. B. MEYER, B.A.

AUTHOR OF

The Shepherd Psalm," " Old Testament Heroes,"
"Christian Living," etc., etc.

LIBRARY OF PRINCEl ON

UN 5 2003

THEOLOGICAL SEMII^ARY

New York Chicago Toronto

Fleming H. Revell Company

Publishers of Evangelical Literature

Copyright, 1898

BY

Fleming H. Revell Company

Well — What are ages and the lapse of time
Match'd against truths, as lasting as sublime ?
Can length of years on God Himself exact ?
Or make that fiction, which was once a fact ?
No — marble and recording brass decay,
And, like the graver's memory, pass away;
The works of man inherit, as is just.
Their author's frailty, and return to dust,
But Truth divine forever stands secure,
Its head is guarded as its base is sure ;
Fix'd in the rolling flood of endless years.
The pillar of the eternal plan appears,
The raving storm and dashing wave defies.
Built by that Architect who built the skies."

COWPER.

OUR DAILY HOMILY

I have poured out my soul before the Lord.

I Saf?i i. 75.

HANNAH'S soul was full of complaint and
grief, which flowed over into her face and made
it sorrowful. But when she had poured out her
soul before the Lord, emptying out all its bitter-
ness, the peace of God took the place of her soul-
anguish, she went her way, and did eat, and her
countenance was no more sad. What a glad ex-
change ! How great the contrast ! How much
the better for herself, and for her home !

Is your face darkened by the bitterness of your
soul ? Perhaps the enemy has been vexing you
sorely ; or there is an unrealized hope, an unful-
filled purpose in your life; or, perchance, the
Lord seems to have forgotten you. Poor sufferer,
there is nothing for it but to pour out your soul
before the Lord. Empty out its contents in con-
fession and prayer, God knows it all ; yet tell
Him, as if He knew nothing. *' Ye people, pour
out your hearts before Him. God is a refuge for
us." *'In everything, by prayer and supplica-
tion make your requests known unto God."

As we pour out our bitterness, God pours in His
peace. Weeping goes out of one door whilst joy
enters at another. We transmit the cup of tears
to the Man of Sorrows, and He hands it back to
us filled with the blessings of the new covenant.
Some day you will come to the spot where you
wept and prayed, bringing your offering of praise
and thanksgiving.

1

His mother 7nade him a little coat.

I Sam. ii. ig.

WHAT happy work it was ! Those nimble
fingers flew along the seams, because love inspired
them. All her woman's art and wit were put into
the garment, her one idea and ambition being to
make something which should be not only useful,
but becoming. Not mothers only, but fathers,
are always making little coats for their children,
which they wear long years after a material fabric
would have become worn out. How many men
and women are wearing to-day the coats which
their parents cut out and made for them long
years ago !

Habits are the vesture of the soul. The Apos-
tle bade his converts put off the old man, " which
is corrupt, according to the deceitful lusts," and
to put on the new man " which after God is
created in righteousness and true holiness" ; to
put off anger, wrath, and malice, whilst they put
on mercy, humility, and meekness. What words
could better establish the fact that habits are (as
the name indicates) the clothing of the inner
life? Where and how are habits formed ? Not
in the mid-passage of life, but at its dawn ; not
in great crises, but in daily circumstances ; not
in life's arena but in the home, amid the sur-
roundings of earliest childhood. Oh that the
spotless robe of Christ's righteousness may ever
be exhibited before those with whom we daily
come in contact !

By their behavior to each other and to their
children ; by the ordering of the home-life ; by
their actions, more than by their words ; by the
way in which they speak, and spend their leisure
hours, and pray — men and women are making
the little coats which, for better or worse, their
children wear ever after, and perhaps pass down
to after generations.

And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at
other times f Samuel ^ Samuel! i Sam. in. lo.

SEE the urgency of God ! Four times He
came, and stood, and called. Mark how He
stands at the door to knock. At first He was
content to call the lad once by name ; but after
three unsuccessful attempts to attract him to
Himself, He uttered the name twice, with strong
urgency in the appeal, Samuel ! Samuel ! This
has been called God's double knock. There are
seven or eight of these double knocks in Scrip-
ture : Simon, Simon; Saul, Saul; Abraham,
Abraham.

How may we be sure of a Divine call?

We may know God's call when it grows in in-
tefisity. — If an impression comes into your soul,
and you are not quite sure of its origin, pray over
it ; above all, act on it so far as possible, follow
in the direction in which it leads — and as you lift
up your soul before God, it will wax or wane. If
it wanes at all, abandon it. If it waxes, follow
it, though all hell attempt to stay you.

We may test God's call by the assistance of
godly friends. — The aged Eli perceived that the
Lord had called the child, and gave him good
advice as to the manner in which he should re-
spond to it. Our special gifts and the drift of
our circumstances will also assuredly concur in
one of God's calls.

We may test God's call by its effect on us. —
Does it lead to self-denial ? Does it induce us to
leave the comfortable bed and step into the cold ?
Does it drive us forth to minister to others? Does
it make us more unselfish, loving, tender, modest,
humble? Whatever is to the humbling of our
pride, and the glory of God, may be truly deemed
God's call. Be quick to respond, and fearlessly
deliver the message the Lord has given you.
3

Let ns fetch the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord.

I Sam. iv. J.

ISRAEL had been defeated with great loss.
Their only hope of being able to hold their own
against the Philistines and the people of the land
was in the protection and help vouchsafed to them
by God. They knew this, and thought that they
would be secured, if only the Ark of the cove-
nant were on the field. They forgot that it was
only the material symbol of a spiritual relation-
ship; that it was useless unless that relationship
was in living force ; and that the bending forms
of the cherubim, emblematic of the Divine pro-
tection, would not avail if their fellowship with
the God of the cherubim had been ruptured by
blacksliding.

There is a sense in which we are always send-
ing for the Ark. The reliance on outward rites,
such as baptism and the Lord's Supper, on the
part of those who are alienated from the life of
God ; the maintenance of the forms of prayer
and Scripture-reading which no longer express
the passionate love of the soul ; the habit of
church-going, which so many practice, not be-
cause they love God, but because they think that
it will in some way secure His alliance in life's
battle — all these are forms in which we still fetch
the Ark of the covenant, whilst our hearts are
wrong with the God of the covenant.

It should never be forgotten that nothing can
afford to us protection and succor but vital union
with Christ. We must hide in His secret place if
we would abide under His shadow. We must
dwell in the most holy place if we would be
shadowed by the wings of the Shekinah. There
must be nothing between us and God, if we are
to walk together, and enjoy fellowship with the
Father, and with His Son, Jesus Christ.

Dagon 7vas fallen np07i his face to the earth be-
fore the Ark of the Lord. i Sam. v. j.

THE idols of the heathen represent demons
who are their accepted gods, just as the Ark was
the symbol of the presence of Jehovah. In the
one case there was a material representation of
the demon ; but in the case of the Ark there
was only a throne, the Mercy Seat ; and no at-
tempt was made to represent the appearance of
the God of Israel. When placed in the Holy of
Holies, the Shekinah shone between the cheru-
bim ; this alone spoke of the Divine Spirit who
filled the apparently vacant throne. When the
effigy of the fish-god was confronted by the
Sacred Ark, it was as though the demon spirit
and the Divine Spirit had come into contact,
with the inevitable result that the inferiority of
the one ensured the crash of its effigy to the
ground.

What a lesson this must have been to the
Philistines — similar to that given Pharaoh in the
plagues of Egypt, and with the same object of
leading them to see the superior greatness of
Jehovah ! How great the encouragement to
Israel — to know that God could defend His su-
periority ! And how striking the prognostica-
tion for the future, when all the Dagons of the
world shall be broken before the symbol of Di-
vine power and love !

Bring the Ark of God into your life. Set it
down in your heart, and forthwith the Dagons
which have held sway for so long will one after
another succumb. "The idols He will utterly
abolish." Let Christ in — that is the one need of
the soul ; and let Him take full possession of you.
Then He will do His own work. Darkness can-
not abide light ; nor the defilement of the Augean
stable the turning in of the water of the river.

And the kine went along the highway ^ lowing as
they went. i Sam. vi. 12.

THAT two milch kine which had never borne
the yoke should move quietly along the high
road, turning neither to the right nor to the left,
and lowing for the calves they had left behind,
clearly indicated that they were possessed and
guided by some mysterious power, which we
know to have been God's. And if He were able
thus to overpower tlie instincts of their nature,
and to compel them to do His will, may we not
infer that all circumstances, and all men, how-
ever unwittingly, and against their natural instinct,
are subserving the purposes of His will, and bearing
on the Ark ? The fish yields the tribute money ;
the colt of the ass waits where two ways meet to
bear the Redeemer ; the man with the waterpot
leads to the upper room ; the Roman soldiers en-
able Paul to fulfill the mission of his life, in
preaching the Gospel without hindrance in the
very heart of Rome.

As we go forth into the world, let us believe
that the movement of all things is toward the ac-
complishment of God's purpose. Herein is a
fulfillment of the Psalmist's prediction about
man, which can only be perfectly fulfilled in
Jesus Christ, the second Adam — that all things
are under His feet, all slieep and oxen, yea, and
the beasts of the field. Everything serves Christ
and those who serve Christ. In a true sense all
things are ours; they minister to us, even as
Christ to God.

And against our natural inclinations let us al-
ways regard the claims of God as paramount ;
and dare to go His way, though our heart pines
for those we leave behind. "He that loveth
father or mother, son or daughter, more than Me,
is not worthy of Me."

Cease not to cry unto the Lord our God.

I Sam. vii. 8.

SAMUEL was famous for his prayers. They
are repeatedly referred to in the brief record of
his life. In the Psalms he is spoken of as the
one'* who called upon God's name." Indeed,
he fought and won Israel's battles by his strong
intercessions. Mary of Scots said that she
dreaded the prayers of John Knox more than the
battalions of the King of France. So his peo-
ple were accustomed to think that if the prophet's
hands were held out in importunate prayer, their
foes must be restrained.

In the Life of Mr. Reginald Radcliffe, one
who contributes a reminiscence interjects a re-
mark which deserves to be carefully pondered : —
"The great secret of the blessing which came
from God to the awakening of whole districts,
the quickening of Christians, and the salvation
of multitudes, was prayer, continued, fervent,
believing, expectant. There was never anything
striking in the addresses ; but through commun-
ion with the living Christ, the word came forth
with living and life-giving power. Often would
the forenoon be spent in continuous prayer."
This may well convict some of us of the cause of
our failure. We have expected the Lord to
thunder and discomfort our Philistines, and with
a great deliverance ; but we have ceased to cry
unto the Lord.

Ye that are the Lord's remembrancers, cease
not to cry unto Him. If the judge avenged the
unfortunate widow, shall not God avenge His own
elect, who cry day and night? It is recorded of
our Lord that He prayed early and late, and all
night. He prayed when He was about to be
transfigured; for His disciples; in the Garden of
Gethsemane ; and for His murderers. How much
more do we need to " pray without ceasing " !

But the thing displeased Samuel. . . . And
Samuel prayed unto the Lord. i Sam. viii. 6.

A LITTLE further down in the chapter we
learn that Samuel rehearsed the words of the peo-
ple unto the Lord. His prayer, to a large ex-
tent, was a rehearsal of all the strong and unkind
things that the people had said to him ; and in
this way he passed them off his mind, and found
relief. There is a suggestion of close communion
with God in the expression, " He rehearsed them
in the ears of the Lord." It had been the habit
of his life to be on intimate terms with his God.

Things do not always turn out as we had
hoped, and we get displeased for our own sakes
and God's. We had planned in one direction,
but events have issued in another ; and the re-
sults have threatened to become disastrous.
There is but one resource. If we allow vexations
to eat into our heart, they will corrode and injure
it. We must rehearse them to God — spreading
the letter before Him as Hezekiah did ; making
request like Paul ; crying like Samuel.

Surely it is the mistake of our life, that we
carry our burdens instead of handing them over ;
that we worry instead of trusting ; that we pray
so little. The grass grows thick on the pathway
to our oratory; the cobwebs hang across the
doorway. The time we spend in prayer is per-
haps better spent than in any other way. It was
whilst Samuel prayed thus, that he saw the Divine
programme for Israel :

«*And he who at the sixth hour sought

The lone house-top to pray,
There gained a sight beyond his thought — ^

The dawn of Gentile day.
Then reckon not, when perils lour,

The time of prayer misspent;
Nor meanest chance, nor place, nor hour,

Without its heavenward bent."

8

Behold^ there is in this city a man of God.

J Sam, ix. 6.

THERE is a street in London, near St. Paul's,
which I never traverse without very peculiar feel-
ings. It is Godliman Street. Evidently the
name is a corruption of godly man. Did some
saint of God once live here, whose life was so
holy as to give a sweet savor to the very street in
which he dwelt? Were the neighbors who
knew him best, the most sure of his godliness?
Would that our piety might leave its mark on our
neighborhoods, and the memory linger long
after we have passed away !

A generation or two ago in the Highlands,
there were earnest and holy men who were known
by the significant title of the men. No great re-
ligious gathering was deemed complete without
them. Their prayers and exhortations were ac-
companied by an especial unction.

In such manner Samuel's godliness was recog-
nized far and wide. The fragrance of his char-
acter could not be concealed. And this gave
men confidence in him. They said, " He is an
honorable man ; all that he saith cometh surely
to pass." How much credit redounds to godli-
ness, when it is combined with trustworthiness
and high credit amongst our fellows 1

Let us seek to be God's men and women. Let
us live not only soberly and righteously, but
godly, in this present world. Let us remember
that God hath set apart the godly for Himself.
The godly are the godlike. They become so by
cultivating the fellowship and friendship of God.
Their faces become enlightened with His beauty ;
their words are weighty with His truth. After
being for a little in their company, you detect the
gravity, serenity, gentleness, beauty of holiness,
which are the court manners of heaven.

Thou shall do as occasion serve Ihee.

I Sam. X. 7.

THIS is an example of how God demands of
us the use of our sanctified common-sense.
Samuel sketches to Saul the course of events dur-
ing the next few days ; showing how clearly our
lives lie naked and open to the eyes of God, and
how easily He can reveal them when necessary.
But whilst the various incidents are told, the
prophet does not feel it incumbent to tell this
goodly young man how he should behave in any
given instance. ** When these signs are come
upon thee, thou shalt do as occasion serve
thee."

We are reminded of a parallel in the life of
Peter. The angel of God unbarred the prison-
doors, and led him forth, because nothing short
of Divine power would avail. He led the dazed
Apostle through one street, because he was too
bewildered to realize what had happened. But,
as soon as the night-air had brought him to his
senses, the angel left him *' to consider the mat-
ter"— to use his own judgment. The result of
which was, that he went to the house of Mary.

"One of the divinest of our faculties is the judg-
ment, before which the reasons for and against a
certain course of action must be adduced, but
with which the ultimate decision lies. It is a
tendency with some to depreciate the use of this
wonderful power, by looking for signs and visions
to point their path. This is a profound mistake.
God will give these when there are complications
in which the exercise of judgment might be at
fault ; but not where it is sufficient. Where no
sign is given, carefully divest yourself of selfish
considerations, weigh the pros and co?iSf ask for
guidance, dare to act ; and having acted in faith,
never look back or doubt.

10

Co7ne, let us go to Gi/gal, and renew the Ki?ig-
doui there. i Sam. xi. 14.

IT is good to have days and occasions for re-
newing the kingdom. Already Saul had been
anointed king. It was a recognized matter that
he should inaugurate the days of the kings, as
distinguished from those of the judges. But his
great victory at Jabesh-Gilead seems to have
wrought the enthusiasm of the people to the
highest pitch, and to have presented a great op-
portunity for renewing the kingdom. They went
to Gilgal to do this, because there, on the first
entrance into Canaan, Israel had rolled away the
reproach of uncircumcision, which symbolized
their lack of separation.

Jesus is our King. The Father hath anointed
Him, and set Him on His holy hill ; and we have
gladly assented to the appointment, and made
Him King. But sometimes our sense of loyalty
and devotion w^anes. Insensibly we drift from
our strenuous endeavor to act always as His de-
voted subjects. Therefore we need, from time to
time, to renew the kingdom, and reverently make
Him King before the Lord. Go over the old
solemn form of dedication ; turn to the yellow
leaves of the diary ; bring under His sceptre any
new provinces of influence that have been ac-
quired ; tell Him how glad and thankful you are
to live only for Him. Let this be done at Gil-
gal, the place of circumcision and separation,
with the Jordan of death flowing behind, and the
Land of Promise beckoning in front. There is a
sense in which we can consecrate ourselves only
once ; but we can renew our vows often.

Blessings abound where'er He reigns;
The prisoner leaps to burst his chains ;
The weary find eternal rest,
And all the sons of want are blest.

11

The Lord will not forsake His people for His
great Name' s sake. i Sam. xii. 22.

THE certainty of our salvation rests on the
character of God. Moses, years before, had
pleaded that God could not afford to destroy or
forsake Israel, lest the Egyptians and others
should have some ground for saying that He was
not able to carry out His purpose, or that He was
fickle and changeable. ''What wilt Thou do
for thy great Name?" Samuel uses the same
argument. We also may avail ourselves of it for
our great comfort.

God knew what we should be — how weak and
frail and changeful — before He arrested us and
brought us to Himself. Speaking after the man-
ner of men, we might say He counted the cost.
He computed whether His resources were suffi-
cient to secure us from our foes, keep us from
falling, and present us faultless before the pres-
ence of His glory with exceeding joy. He fore-
knew how much forbearance, pity, consolation,
and tenderness, we should require. And yet it
pleased Him to make us His people. He cannot,
therefore, now run back from His purpose ; other-
wise it would seem that difficulties had arisen
which either He had not anticipated, or was not
so well able to combat as He had thought. What
an absurd suggestion ! In the former case there
would be a slur on His omniscience ; on the other,
upon His omnipotence.

*'What if God should cast you into hell?"
was asked of an old Scotchwoman. "Well,"
she answered, "If He do, all I can say is, He
will lose mair than I will."

The gracious promise given to Joshua may be
appropriated by every trembling saint of God :
" I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." And
to the poor and needy He says, "I the God of
Israel will not forsake them."

12

I forced myse/fy there/ore, and offered a burnt-
offering. I Sam. xiii. 12.

THIS was wholly outside Saul's province.
Samuel had engaged to arrive within the seven
days : they had nearly expired, and still there
were no signs of the prophet; and Saul, yield-
ing to the promptings of his impetuous nature,
took the matter into his own hand, and rashly
assumed an office to which he had no right. He
protested that he had been very unwilling to add
the function of priest to that of king. But this
was notoriously contrary to the truth. For some
time he had chafed against Samuel's prerogative,
and now sought to supersede the Divine order.

It seemed but a small act, and, to superficial
judgment, not enough to warrant the loss of his
kingdom ; but it was symtomatic of a great moral
deficiency. He had not learned to obey the
commandment of the Lord : how could he rule ?
He could not control the hasty suggestions of his
own nature, in favor of the deliberate movement
of the Divine order : how could he be God's
chosen agent ? He acted on the showings of ex-
pediency, rather than of faith : how could he be
a man after God's own heart? The restlessness
and haste which characterize the present age must
not be allowed to affect our service for God ; for
thereby the progress of the Gospel will be hin-
dered rather than helped.

We must learn to wait for God. He may not
come till the allotted time has almost passed ; but
He will come. He waits for the exact moment
in which He can best succor you. Not till pa-
tience has been exercised, but before it has given
out. In the meanwhile, be sure that your safety
is secured ; He will see to it that the Philistines
shall not come down to overwhelm you.

13

His eyes were enlightened.

I. Sam xiv. zy.

THE Pliilistines were in full flight. The Is-
raelites followed hard at their heels through the
wood. It was there that tlie honey dropped in
rich abundance on the ground, and there Jona-
than tasted a little, dipping the end of his rod
into it. It made all the difference to him, ward-
ing off the excessive exhaustion which paralyzed
the rest of the army.

The Word of God is sweeter tha?i the honey-
cojnb. — Luscious to the sanctified taste ; enlight-
ening to the dimming eyes; strength-giving to
the weary. It drops in abundance to the ground,
as though inviting the hand of the Christian war-
rior or wayfarer to take it freely. If there is no
taste for the written Word, it may be assumed
that the living Word has not been enthroned in
the heart ; for where He reigns supreme, there is
a longing for the food which alone can fit us for
the Christian life.

Where we cannot take much, let us take some.
— There was not time for Jonathan to sit down
and take his fill. He could only catch up some
as he hastily passed through the forest-glade ; but
that little made all the difference to him. So, in
the early morning, or at midday, if we cannot
fill our hearts with Scripture, we may catch up a
morsel, which will minister untold refreshment,
and clear our spiritual vision.

We specially need to do this 7uhen flushed with
success. — Too often, when we have had success
in the battles of the Lord — a good time in preach-
ing or teaching — we are apt to congratulate our-
selves, and suppose that we can live on the emo-
tions excited. But, probably, there is no time
when we need more absolutely to turn to the
Word of God. In victory, as in defeat, we must
be fed and nourished.

14

To obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken
than the fat of rams. i Sam. xv. 22.

THIS is a great principle, which is repeatedly
enforced throughout the Bible. Men have always
been apt to divorce religion and morality, and to
suppose that a certain tribute of sacrifice to God
will be sufficient compensation for notorious evil-
doing. But in every age God's servants have
protested against the notion, and have insisted,
as Samuel did with Saul, that it were better to
obey, although there should be no spoil from
which to select victims for sacrifice. This was
Christ's perpetual protest against the Pharisees.

Let the Ritualist beware. — There is a grave
fear lest extreme attention to the outward rite
may be accompanied by carelessness to the inward
temper. When the outward observance is the
expression of the attitude of the soul, it is to be
respected even by those of us who feel that ex-
cessive symbolism is hostile to the devout life;
but where the rite takes the place of the soul's
devotion, or condones a lax morality, it cannot
be too sternly deprecated. Though all the Levit-
ical rites should be observed without flaw, they
could not compensate for the persistent neglect
of the least item of the decalogue. ''God is a
Spirit ; and they that worship Him must worship
Him in spirit and in truth."

Let tis all beware. — We are apt to make sacri-
fices of time and money and energy for God, and
to comfort ourselves with the reflection that such
as we are may be excused if in small lapses of
temper, or disposition, we come short of the
Divine standard. No; it cannot pass muster.
One sin mastered, one temptation resisted, one
duty performed, is dearer to God than the most
costly sacrifices that were ever piled upon the
altar.

15

The Spirit of the Lord came upon David from
that day forward. i Sam. xvi. 13.

WHAT may not a day bring forth ! Here
was a shepherd lad, summoned hastily from his
sheep, and anointed king. But an even greater
blessing came into his life that day, for he was
mightily endued with the Holy Spirit. Without
doubt, during his early years the Spirit of God
had dwelt within him, moulding his character,
inditing his songs; but, henceforth, the Spirit
was to abide on him, as a Divine unction.

Why should not this day witness a similar
transformation for you ; not in the change of
earthly position, but in your reception of the
"power from on high" through a renewed en-
duement? Why should not the Spirit of the
Lord come mightily upon you from this holy
hour, even as your eyes glance down this page ?
Though it is quite possible that you have been
empowered once, there is no finality in God's
bestowals; the apostles were filled and filled
again (Acts ii. and iv.).

The age of Pentecost in which we live is dis-
tinctly one of Divine anointing. It awaits all
wlio will separate themselves to God, and receive
it for His glory. The characteristic preposition
of this age is 07i. If you have not received
power, seek it ; he that seeketh findeth ; nay, re-
ceive it — to ask is to get. If the Master, though
begotten of the Holy Spirit, forbore to preach
the Gospel, and bind up broken hearts, till He
had been anointed as the Christ by the Spirit,
who descended on Him at His baptism; how
foolish it is for us, who were born in sin, to at-
tempt similar work, apart from similar endue-
ment ! The promise to each child of God is :
"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy
Ghost is come upon you ; and ye shall be wit-
nesses unto Me " (Acts i. 8).

16

The armies of the living God.

I Sam, xvii. 26^ j6.

THIS made all the difference between David
and the rest of the camp. To Saul and his sol-
diers God was an absentee — a name, but little
else. They believed that He had done great
things for His people in the past, and that at some
future time, in the days of the Messiah, He might
be expected to do great things again ; but no one
thought of Him as present. Keenly sensitive to
the defiance of the Philistine, and grieved by the
apathy of his people, David, on the other hand,
felt that God was alive. He had lived alone with
Him in the solitude of the hills, till God had be-
come one of the greatest and most real facts of his
young existence ; and as the lad went to and fro
among the armed warriors, he was sublimely con-
scious of the presence of the living God amid the
clang of the camp.

This is what we need. To live so much with
God, that when we come amongst men, whether
in the bazaars of India or the market-place of an
English town, we maybe more aware of His over-
shadowing presence than of the presence or ab-
sence of any one. Lo, God is here ! This place
is hallowed ground I But none can realize this by
the act of the will. We can only find God every-
where when we carry Him everywhere. The
miner sees by the candle he carries on his fore-
head.

Each of us is opposed by difficulties, priva-
tions, and trials of different sorts. But the one
answer to them all is faith's vision of the Living
God. We can face the mightiest foe in His name.
If our faith can but make Him a passage, along
which He shall come, there is no Goliath He will
not quell ; no question He will not answer ; no
need He will not meet.

17

David behaved himself wisely.

I Sam. xviii. 5, 14^ i^^ 30.

THERE must be some strong reason for the
fourfold repetition of this phrase in so short a
space. It is as though tlie Holy Ghost would lay
very distinct stress on the Divine prudence and
circumspection, which must characterize the man
whose life is hid in God. Let us walk with God,
abiding in Him, subjecting our thoughts and
plans to His, communing about all things with
Him, talking over our lives with Him, before we
go out to live them in the presence of our fellows.
Then we too shall have this gracious wisdom,
which is more moral than intellectual — the prod-
uct of the grace of God rather than of human
culture.

Our life shall commend itself to men (5). —
David's was good in the sight of all the people,
and more wonderful still, in the sight of Saul's
servants, who might have been jealous. A life
lived in God disarms jealousy and envy. He
who, as a boy, did His Father's business increased
in wisdom, and in favor with God and men.

Our life shall rebuke and awe our foes (15). —
Saul stood in awe of him. When traps and
snares are laid for us we shall be enabled to
thread our way through them all, as Jesus did
when they tried to entangle Him in His talk.
We shall have a wisdom which all our foes to-
gether shall not be able to gainsay or resist.

Our name will be precious (30). — People loved
to dwell on the name of David ; it was much set
by; they noticed and were impressed with the
beauty and nobility of his character. We must
always view our lives, amusements, and undertak-
ings, in the light of the result which will accrue
to Him whose name it is our privilege to bear.
18

And Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jonathaii.

I Sam. xix, 6.

IT was a noble act of Jonathan. He might
have withdrawn from his friendship with David
when it threatened his relations with his father;
but, instead, he stepped into the breach, and
pleaded for his friend, endeavoring to eradicate
the false and ungenerous conceptions of which
Saul had become possessed. It is an example we
do well to study and copy. For his love's sake,
as well as for his father's, he was extremely eager
to effect a reconciliation between him to whom he
owed allegiance of son and subject, and this fair
shepherd-minstrel-warrior, who had so recently
cast a sunny gleam upon his life.

Men often misconceive of one another. Jeal-
ousy and envy distort behavior and actions which
are in themselves as beautiful as possible. Mis-
representation will blind us to the true excellences
of one another's characters. Wrong construc-
tions are often put on the most innocent inci-
dents. We cannot help these things, they are
part of the sad heritage of the Fall ; but we may
often take up the cause of a misunderstood man,
and at the risk of losing our own reputation, and
diverting to ourselves some of the odium which
attaches to him, we may stand as his sponsors.

Even if we dislike another, as Saul did David,
let us give scope to the good Spirit to plead his
cause at the bar of our hearts, as Jonathan did
for his friend. Let us consider all the kind and
loving things that may be said of him ; let us put
ourselves in his position ; let us be willing to be-
lieve and hope all things. Let us plead for
others, since this is a work in whicli Christ's fol-
lowers most closely approximate to Him who ever
liveth to intercede.

19

Thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will be
empty. j Sam. xx. i8.

JONATHAN and David had entered into a
covenant, each loving the other as his own soul.
Anxious to shield his friend from the wrath of his
father, Jonathan discloses to David the plan by
which he shall know how matters fared in the
royal palace. David's vacant seat suggests a les-
son for us.

There are a good many empty seats in our
houses. Those that occupied them can never do
so again; they have gone never to return again,
and we miss them sorely.

Let us see to it that we do not leave our seats
in the home circle needlessly vacant. Let not
the mother be away at the dance, or even at the
religious meeting, when she should be at home,
joining in her children's evening prayers. Let
the father be very sure that God has called him
elsewhere, before he habitually vacates his place
in the evening family circle. Let each of us avoid
giving needless pain to those we love by leaving
empty seats. But if God calls us away to His
service, then for those who miss us, another Form
shall glide in, and sit in the vacant chair; and
they will become conscious that the Master is fill-
ing the gap, and beguiling the weary moments.

Above all, let not your seat be empty in the
house of God, at the ordinary service, or at the
Lord's Table. We are too prone to allow a trifle
to deter us from joining in the sacred feasts. At
such times we are missed, our empty seat wit-
nesses against us ; there is a lack in the song and
prayer, which cries out against us; there is a dis-
tinct loss to the power of the service, which is in
proportion to the number of earnest souls present.
Oh that there may be no empty seats at the mar-
riage supper, vacated through our unfaithfulness !

20

There is none like that; give it me.

I Sam. xxi. g.

WHAT David said of the sword of Goliath
we may say of Holy Scripture — the sword of the
Spirit — "There is none like that."

There is no hook like the Bible for those con-
vinced of sin. — The Word of God assures the sin-
ner of God's love in Christ, whilst it refuses to
condone a single sin, or excuse one shortcoming.
The Bible is as stern as conscience herself against
sin, but as pitiful as the heart of God to the sin-
ner. It, moreover, discloses the method by which
the just God becomes the justifier of those who
believe.

There is no book like the Bible for the sorrow-
ful.— It tells of the Comforter; it reminds us
that in all our sorrow God also is sad ; it points
to the perfect plan according to which God is
working out our blessedness; it insists that all
things are working togetlier for good; it opens
tlie vision of the blessed future, where all the
griefs and tears of men shall be put away forever.

There is 7io book like the Bible for the dying. —
"Read to me," said Sir Walter Scott, on his
dying bed, to his friend. " What shall I read ? "
" There is only one book for a dying man," was
the answer ; "read to me from the Bible." The
Book which tells of the Lord, who died and rose
again ; of the mansions which He has gone to
prepare; of the reunion of the saints; of the
fountains of water of life — is the only pillow on
which the dying head can rest softly.

In these days of debate and doubt there is no
such evidence for the Divine authority of the
Bible as that which accrues from its perpetual
use, whether in our own life, or in the conviction
of the ungodly.

21

Till I know ivhat God ivill do for me.

J Sam. xxii. j,

WE shall never get to the end of all that God
will do for us, if only we perfectly give ourselves
up to Him. David had a very imperfect vision
of all that was in God's plan for him ; he had an
inkling, but that was all. And we have still less.
Yet let us recapitulate some of the things which
God will do for us.

He waits to give ?/s the spirit of Sonship : so
that we may ever be conscious of His Fatherhood,
and look up into His face in the garden of Geth-
semane, and on the Mount of Transfiguration
alike, calling Him Abba, Father.

He longs to lead us to full consecration ; to
lead us into such close association with Jesus in
His redeeming purpose, that we may become His
willing bond-servants, with no other purpose and
aim in life than His service and glory.

He desires to deliver us from all known sin :
that we may be blameless and harmless, His chil-
dren without rebuke in this sinful world, who
walk before Him in holiness and righteousness all
our days.

He wants to anoint us with the Holy Spirit : so
that our ministry to men may have more of the
savor of Christ ; may plough deeper furrows in
human hearts; may have more abiding results.

He desires us to come into partnership with His
Son — here in His redemptive purpose, yonder in
His throne. To this indeed He calls us.

Who can know all that God waits to do, not
here only, but yonder, when life has entered upon
its eternal stage! ''Now are we children of
God ; and it is not yet made manifest what we
shall be" (i John iii. 2, R. v.).

22

He said to Abiathar the priest, Bring hither the
ephod, I Sam. xxiii. g,

DAVID was passing through one of the most
awful experiences of his life, when his men spoke
of stoning him instead of taking up his cause.
How many times in this chapter we are informed
that David inquired of the Lord ! Some three or
four times the appeal for direction was renewed,
as though he were fearful to stir one step by the
light of his own unaided wisdom. In that change-
ful life of his, it must have been extremely diffi-
cult to set the Lord always before him, and await
Divine direction. Many a time his circumstances
might seem to demand immediate action rather
than prayer; and the rude soldiery must have in-
sisted on their voice being heard rather than a
priest's ; but David was not deterred by one or
the other, and still held to his practice of con-
sulting the Urim and Thummim stone, set in tlie
ephod ; which was probably a splendid diamond,
flashing with God's distinct ''Yes," or growing
cloudy and dark with His definite '♦ No."

Let us inquire of the Lord. The answer will
surely come, if we wait for it. If we are not sure
of it, let us still wait, for it will come — not so
early as to save us from using our faith, not so
late as to permit us to be overwhelmed. Direc-
tion will come in the growing conviction of duty,
in the drift of circumstances, in the advice of
friends, in the perceptions of a sanctified judg-
ment. None that wait on God can be ashamed.
Whether our duty be to arise and pursue, to sit
still, or to escape — *' the meek He will guide in
judgment; the meek He will teach His way."
He gives us a white stone in which a name is
written, which only they know who receive.

23

And David's heart stnote him.

I Sam. xxiv. J.
IT is well to have a tender conscience, and to
obey its least monitions, even when men and
things militate against it. Here was an oppor-
tunity for David and his band to end their wan-
derings and hardships by one thrust of the spear ;
but though it was a very small thing that he had
done, David was struck with remorse for having
taken advantage of Saul's retirement in the pre-
cincts of the cave, where his men and he were
hiding, and cut off a piece of his robe.

// was a trifling matter ^ and yet it seemed dis-
honoring to God's anointed king; and as such
it hurt David to have done it. We sometimes in
conversation and criticism cut off a piece of a
man's character, or influence for good, or stand-
ing in the esteem of others. Ought not our
heart to smite us for such thoughtless conduct ?
Ought we not to make confession or reparation ?

Circumstances seeined to favor it. — Of all the
scores of caves in the neighborhood, the king
had happened to choose the very one, in the dark
recesses of which David and his men were shel-
tering. What more natural than to obtain some
token to convince the king how absolutely he had
been in his young rival's power? But favoring
circumstances do not justify an act which is not
perfectly healthy and right. Opportunity does
not make a wrong thing right.

His men unanimously approved the act, nay,
they wanted him to go further. Their standard
was a very low one, not only in this case, but in
others. How wonderful that David kept such a
high ideal amid such comrades I We shall not
be judged hereafter by the standard which ob-
tained among our comrades.
24

This shall be no grief unto thee.

I Sam. XXV. jr.

THERE was an inimitable blending of wom-
an's wit with worldly prudence in the words of
the beautiful Abigail. Poor woman, she had had
a sorry life of it, mated to such a man as Nabal
was ! An ill-assorted pair certainly, though
probably she had had no hand in bringing about the
alliance. Like so many Eastern women, she was
the creature of another's act and choice. But
she succeeded in averting the blow which David
was hasting to inflict, by asserting her belief that
the time was not far distant when he would no
longer be a fugitive from his foes, and by sug-
gesting that when that happy time came it would
be a relief to feel that he had not allowed himself
to be carried to all lengths by his hot passion.

It was very salutary advice. Let us always look
at things from the view-point of the future, when
our passion shall have subsided, when time shall
have cooled us, and especially when we review
the present from the verge of the other world —
how then ?

We can well afford to do this since God is
with us, and our life is bound up with Him in
the bundle of life. Abigail reminded David that
God would do to him all the good of which He
had spoken, and would sling out his enemies as
from a sling. So God will do for us ; not one
good thing will fail of all that He hath promised ;
no weapon that is formed against us shall prosper.
Within a little, Nabal was dead, and David's
wrong righted. So shall the evil that now
molests us pass away. God will deal with it.
Let us leave it to Him : before Him mountains
shall melt like wax ; and we shall have nothing
to regret.

25

Then said Saul, I have sinned.

J Sajii. xxvi. 21.

THE Apostle makes a great distinction, and
rightly, between the sorrow of the world and the
sorrow of a godly repentance which needeth not
to be repented of. Certainly Saul's confession
of sin belonged to the former; whilst the cry of
the latter comes out in Psalm li., extorted from
David by the crimes of after years.

The difference between the two may be briefly
summarized in this, that the one counts sin a
folly and regrets its consequences ; whilst the
other regards sin as a crime done against the
most Holy God, and regrets the pain given to
Him. "Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned,
and done this evil in Thy sight."

Obviously Saul's confession was of the former
description, '' I have played the fool." He
recognized the unkingliness of his behavior,
and the futility of his efforts against David.
But he stayed there, stopping short of a faithful
recognition of his position in the sight of God,
as weighed in the balances of eternal justice.

Many a time in Scripture do we meet with this
confession. The Prodigal, Judas, Pharaoh,
David, and Saul, uttered it ; but in what differ-
ing tones, and with what differing motives !
We need to winnow our words before God \ not
content with using the expressions of penitence,
unless we are very sure that they bear the mint-
mark of heaven, and deserve the Master's Beati-
tude, "Blessed are they that morn, for they shall
be comforted."

When sin is humbly confessed, the Saviour as-
sures us: " Thy sins, which are many, are for-
given thee ; go in peace." ** If we confess our
sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

And David said, J shall now perish one day by
the hand of Saul. i Sam. xxvii. i.

WHAT a fit of despondency and unbelief was
here ! We can hardly believe that this is he who
in so many Psalms had boasted of the shepherd
care of God, who had so often insisted on the
safety of God's pavilion. It was a fainting fit,
brought on by the bad air he had breathed amid
the evil associations of Adullam's cave. Had
not God promised to take care of him? Was
not his future already guaranteed by the promises
that he should succeed to the kingdom ? But
nothing availed to check his precipitate flight
into the land of the Philistines.

Bitterly he rued this mistake. The prevarica-
tion and deceit to which he was driven ; the an-
guish of having to march with Achish against
his own people ; the sack and burning of Ziklag :
these were the price he had to pay for his mis-
trust. Unbelief always brings many other bitter
sorrows in its train, and leads the soul to cry,

« How long, O Lord ? Wilt Thou forget me forever ?
How long wilt Thou hide thy face from me ? "

Let us beware of losing heart, as David did.
Look not at Saul, but at God, who is omnipo-
tent ; not at the winds and waves, but at Him
who walks across the water; not at what may
come, but at that which is — for the glorious Lord
is round about thee to deliver thee. He shall de-
liver thy soul from death, thine eyes from tears,
and thy feet from falling. He that has helped
will help. What He has done, He will do. God
always works from less to more, never from more
to less. Dost thou not hear — hast thou not
heard — his voice saying, I will never leave thee,
nor forsake thee? What, then, can man do unto
tliee ? Every weapon used against thee shall go
blunt on an invisible shield !
27

Because thou obeyedst not the voice of the Lord,
therefore ... i Sam. xxviii. i8.

THUS unforgiven sin comes back to a man.
We cannot explain the mysteries that lie around
this incident ; but it is clear that in that supreme
hour of Saul's fate, that early sin, which had
never been confessed and put away, came surging
back on the mind and heart of the terror-stricken
monarch. " Because thou obeyedst not the voice
of the Lord, and didst not execute His fierce
wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the Lord
done this thing unto thee this day. Moreover
the Lord will deliver Israel also with thee into
the hands of the Philistines" (r. v.). But Saul
did not realize that even then the gates of God's
love stood open to him, if only he would pass
through them by humble penitence and faith. If
instead of applying to the witch, he had sought
God's mercy, light would have burst on his dark-
ened path, and he had never perished by his own
hand on Mount Gilboa.

In strong contrast with this, let us put the as-
surance of the new covenant: ** Their sins and
iniquities will I remember no more." When God
forgives, He blots out from the book of His re-
membrance. The sin is gone as a pebble in the
ocean ; as a cloud in the blue of a summer's sky.

Saul's was a sin of omission. The question
was not what evil he had done, but the good he
had failed to do. Let us remember that we need
pardon for the sad lapses and failures of our lives,
equally as for the positive transgressions. And if
such things are not forgiven, they will lie heavy
on our consciences when the shadows of death be-
gin to gather around us. The New Testament
especially judges those who knew and did not do
— the slothful servant, the virgin without the oil,
the priest that passed by on the other side.

28

What do these Hebreivs here ?

I Sajn. xxix. j.

IT was a very natural remark. The Philistines
were going into battle with the Hebrew king and
his troops, and it was very anomalous that a
strong body of Hebrews should be forming part
of the Philistine array. They had no business to
be there. The annoyance of the chief captains
and lords that surrounded Achish was natural
enough. For long, probably, it had been smoul-
dering; now it broke out into flame.

It is very terrible when the children of the
world have a higher sense of Christian propriety
and fitness than Christians themselves, and say to
one another, ** What do these Hebrews here ? "
The word ** Hebrew " means one that has passed
over — a separatist. The death of our Lord Jesus
was intended to make all His followers separatists.
Through Him they have passed from death unto
life ; they have been delivered out of the power
of darkness and translated into the kingdom of
God's dear Son. The appeal of His cross to us
all is, ** Come out from among them, and be ye
separate." Too often, however, that call is un-
heeded ; and, for fear of man, we mingle with the
ranks of the enemies of our Lord.

If Christians attend the theatre; if Sunday-
school teachers, elders or deacons of a church,
are found participating in the pleasures of the
ungodly; if the young Christian man is found
loosely consorting with the card-players of the
smoking-room of an ocean steamer — may not the
sneer go round, *'What do these Hebrews
here?" "What doest thou here, Elijah!" is
the remonstrance of God. *^ What do these He-
brews here? " that of the world, which not un-
frequently has a truer sense of propriety than
God's professing followers.

29

David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.

I Sam. XXX. 6.

HIS God ! Doubtless the chronicler heard
him say repeatedly, as he was so fond of saying,
" My God, my God," "I will say unto God,
my rock, why hast Thou forsaken me? " Though
he had seriously compromised God's cause, by
the failure of his faith, by consorting with Achish
and the Philistines, by a tortuous and treacherous
policy, yet God was still his God ; and, in the
supreme crisis which had overtaken him, he nat-
urally betook himself to the covert of those lov-
ing wings.

Jle encouraged himself . — He would go back on
promises of forgiveness and succor, which had so
often cheered him in similar straits. He would
recall his songs in former nights as black as this,
and therefore would have hope. He would re-
member that he had been brought through worse
trials; and surely He who had helped him
against Goliath and Saul would not fail him
against the Amalekites. Besides, he had prob-
ably left his dear ones in the protection of the
encamping angel ; and though his faith might be
tried, it could not be entirely disappointed. In
this way he encouraged himself. All around was
tumult and fear; but in God peace and rest
brooded, as swans on a tranquil lake. His men
might speak of stoning him ; his heart be greatly
distressed for wives and children ; his life be in
jeopardy : but God was a very present help.
" Why art thou cast down, and disquieted, O my
soul? Hope thou in God."

In similar circumstances, let us have resort to
similar sources of comfort ; hide in God, and en-
courage ourselves in Him. It was in this spirit
that John Knox, when about to face death, said
to his wife, ** Read to me where I first cast
anchor."

30

All the valiant 7nen. . . .

I Sam. xxxi. iiy 12.

THIS was a noble and generous act. At the
beginning of his reign, in the early dawn of
youthful promise and prowess, when he was the
darling of the nation, Saul had interposed to de-
liver their beleaguered city. And now, as the
awful tidings of his defeat and suicide spread like
fire through the country, the men whom he had
succored remembered his first kingly act, and
showed their appreciation for his kindness by do-
ing a strong and chivalrous deed in rescuing his
remains from dishonor. They could not help
him, but they could save his honor. When
David heard of this act, he sent messengers to the
men of Jabesh-Gilead, thanking them for their
chivalrous devotion to the memory of the fallen
king, and promising to requite the kindness as
one done to the entire nation, and to himself.

Are we careful enough of the honor and name
of our dear Lord ? He has done for us spiritu-
ally all that Saul did for Jabesh-Gilead, and
more. He has delivered our soul from death,
our eyes from tears, and our feet from falling.
Let us be swift to maintain the honor of His name
among those who are so apt at making it their
scorn.

It was well that these men did not wait for
others to act. Had they done so, the body of
Saul might have rotted piecemeal on the walls of
the temple at Bethshan. If they had left this act
of reparation for Abner, or Ish-bosheth, it would
never have been done. There is no order of pre-
cedence, when a wrong has to be righted, or a
friend vindicated. The man who is next must
act. Let us strike into the fray, and count that
our opportunity is warrant enough. He who
can, may.

31

Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasaiit in
their lives. 2 Satn. i. 23.

IT was very lovely and pleasant of David to say
so. He had no hesitation, of course, in saying
this of his beloved Jonathan, every memory of
whom was very pleasant, like a sweet strain of
music, or the scent of the spring breeze ; but he
might have been excused for omitting Saul from
the graceful and generous epithets he heaped on
the kindred soul of his friend. But death had
obliterated the sad, dark memories of recent days,
and had transported the Psalmist across the dream
of years to Saul as he was when he was first intro-
duced to him. All that could be said in praise
of the first Hebrew king was crowded into these
glowing lines — the courage, martial prowess, swift-
ness to aid those who required help, his pleasant-
ness and courtesy in address.

This is the love of God, which He breathes
into the hearts of His children. They become
perfect in love, as He is. " God commendeth
His love toward us, in that, while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us." It is Godlike for
His children to love their enemies, bless those
who curse them, and pray for all who despitefully
use and persecute them. Is such love ours? Do
we forbear from thinking evil? Do we look on
the virtues more often than the failures of our
friends? Do we cast the mantle of forgiveness
over the injuries done to us, and dwell tenderly
on the excellences of our foes? Such is the love
which never fails, but endures when faith has
turned to fruition, and hope has realized its
dreams.

We need most of all a baptism of love. A piece
of clay will become fragrant if placed in conti-
guity to attar of roses. Let us lie where John
did, on the bosom of incarnate love, till we begin
to love as he.

32

The men of Judah came, and there they anointed
David king. 2 Satn. U. 4.

THUS was David anointed a second time.
Hitherto he had been the leader of a troop ; now
he became king of his own tribe : and his king-
dom clustered around the ancient city of Hebron.

Typically, we learn that our blessed Lord will
be acknowledged King of His own people, the
Jews, before He is accepted by the world at large.
Now, His kingdom is in mystery — it is in the
Adullam stage. Men are gathering to Him from
all quarters ; but as yet the world does not recog-
nize it in their political calculations. But ere
long the Jews will recognize Him as King, and
then we may begin to expect His enthronement
over the populations of the globe. When they
repent and art converted, times of repenting will
come to all the world.

Experimentally we are taught, that as each new
department of our life unfolds, we should give
Christ a fresh coronation. The attitude which
we took up years ago, of complete consecration,
must be applied perpetually to each fresh develop-
ment of experience. Each new step should be
characterized by a definite waiting on God, that
there may be a fresh enduement of power, a re-
charging of the spirit with His might. Was He
King in the cave, then be sure to acknowledge
Him as such, now that you are called from ob-
scurity into tlie glare of noon. Whenever God
says, by the circumstances of your life. Go up ;
always kneel at the feet of Jesus, saying, "Lord,
in the very little I found my joy and strength in
serving Thee only ; and now, amid the greater
responsibility and publicity of my life, I desire to
be Thy earnest, simple-minded, whole-hearted
follower."

Have you anointed Jesus as your King? Do
not fail. Remember how near of kin He is.
33

David wared stronger and stronger, and the house
of Saul wared weaker. 2 Sam. Hi. i.

THE war between the flesh and the Spirit is
long, but the end is sure. As the Baptist said of
Jesus, so must the flesh say of the Spirit, He must
increase ; I must decrease. Sometimes, in the
long strain of the war, our spirit dies down. Will
the bugle never cease to ring out its alarm? Will
the assaults never come to an end? When shall
we be able to lay aside sword and breastplate,
and to enter the land of rest ? Oh to be able to
say with the Apostle, *'I have fought the good
fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the
faith" !

Yet take heart. The assaults diminish in fre-
quency and strength in proportion as they are
faithfully resisted. Each time you resist success-
fully you will find it easier to resist. The strength
of the vanquished foe enters the vanquisher.

Moreover, ultimate victory is secured. "What-
soever is born of God overcometh the world ; and
this is the victory that overcometh the world,
even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the
world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son
of God?" (i John v. 4, 5). It makes a great
difference to the soldier, when he belongs to an
All-Victorious Legion, and serves under a Cap-
tain that never lost a fight. And there can be
no doubt as to the issue in your heart or mine.
*' He must reign till He has put all enemies under
His feet."

At any moment we may look for the sudden
collapse of a great portion of the confederacy of
evil, which has so long menaced us ; as when
Abner suddenly came to Hebron to give in his
adhesion to David. What a huge piece of cliff"
fell that day into the sea ! Expect the sudden
collapse of evils which have long troubled you.

34

As the Lord liveth^ who hath redeemed my soul
out of all adversity. 2 Sam. iv. g.

IT was the midday of David's life, and, look-
ing back, lie saw how good the Lord had been to
him. Step by step God had brought him up out
of a horrible pit, and from the miry clay, setting
him upon a rock, and establishing his goings.
What need was there, then, that men should in-
terfere to hasten the unfolding of the Divine pur-
poses? It had been his lifelong habit to wait.
Whatever he needed he looked to God to supply.
Whatever difficulties blocked his path, he looked
to God to remove. Whatever men stood in his
way he looked to God to deal with them. Twice
in the wilderness he refused to take Saul's life.
He had executed the Amalekite because he claimed
to have slain Saul on Gilboa. And, in pursuance
of the same policy, he could have no complicity
in the act of the murderers of Ish-bosheth, even
though they made his way clear to the throne of
Israel.

Let God redeem thee out of all thine adversi-
ties. Do not lose heart or hope. Do not put
forth thy hand to snatch at any position or deliv-
erance by an act which might afterward cause
thee shame or sorrow. " Trust in the Lord, and
do good. Roll thy way upon the Lord. Trust
also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. Rest
in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him" (Psa.
xxxvii. 3-7, R. v.). He who turns glaciers to
rivers that pass away, will remove all thy difficul-
ties and perplexities. He shall cause thee to in-
herit the land. He will promote thee in due
time, and give thee to see thy desire upon thine
enemies. He who redeemed thy soul by His
most precious blood cannot fail thee, however
long He may tarry. Remember that He ever
liveth, and loveth, and reigneth.

35

A?id David took hi??i 7nore wives out of Jerusalem.

2 Sam. V. ij.

THIS is terribly disappointing ! According
to the ideas of the surrounding nations, the
greatness of a monarch was gauged by the extent
of his harem. But the law of Moses put severe
restraint on the multiplication of wives, *' that his
heart turn not away " (Deut. xvii. 17). It seems
as though the soul of David sank into sensual in-
dulgence and luxuriance. It lost much of its
early hardihood and strength in consequence ;
and at this period of his life those seeds were
sown, which in after years brought forth such a
plentiful and terrible harvest of anguish, murder,
and impurity in his family.

Few of us realize how much our character owes
to the stern discipline to which God subjects us.
The only way to keep us healthy and vigorous is
to send us many a nipping frost, many a keen
northern blast. The bleak hillside breeds stronger
natures than the warm sheltered valley. The
difference between Anglo-Saxon and Negro is
largely wrought by temperature and soil. The
campaign, with its strain on every power of en-
durance, trains better soldiers than the barracks.
As David was a stronger, better man, when hunted
like a coney in the rocks of Engedi, so are we
braced to a nobler life, when all things seem
against us.

Few of us can be trusted with unbroken happi-
ness. God is compelled to withhold what the
flesh craves. But where prosperity has shone on
your path, be very careful not to abuse it. Con-
sider it as indicating God's loving trust in you.
He would rather convey His lesson in sunshine
than in storm. But walk carefully and humbly,
looking to Him constantly for daily grace, and
never relaxing the girdle about the loin.

36

They set the Ark of God upon a new cart.

2 Sam. vi. j.

THIS was their mistake. The Divine di-
rections were explicit that the Ark of the living
God must be carried on the shoulders of living
men. There would have been no stumbling of
oxen, no swaying of the Ark to falling, no need
for Uzzah to reach out his hand, if only this
simple direction had been obeyed. This break-
ing forth of God was to recall men to simple
absolute obedience to the rules and regulations
that had been so explicitly laid down in the
Levitical code. It could not fall into disuse
without grave loss to the entire people. Better
that one life should be sacrificed for disobedience
than that the whole nation should be impoverished
for the relaxation of that ancient law.

We are fond of bringing new carts to God. At
every birthday we build the new cart of good
resolution, and place thereon the Ark of God.
We will be different, and on our fresh endeavors
the Lord of Hosts shall ride ; but we must drive,
and if needs be, steady the Ark. Ah ! it is not
long before the oxen stumble, and Uzzah who
drives is smitten to the dust of death.

God wants, not new carts, but the living
shoulders of consecrated men. We must live for
Him, surrendering ourselves to His service; not
driving, but being driven; not conducting, but
being impelled ; not imposing our thoughts on
Him, but being willing to submit ourselves abso-
lutely to Him. There is no need to fear God, if
only we will obey Him, and in obedience dis-
cover the laws by which we may approach and
serve Him. Then the power which otherwise
flames forth to destroy will become the useful
servant of our faith, and we shall be able to
undertake great things for God.

37

Do as Thou hast said.

2 Sam. vii. 2^.

THIS is the voice of a childlike faith.

Note what led to these words. — Nathan had
just unfolded to the King all the purposes of
God's heart toward him. That He would estab-
lish his throne, deliver him from his enemies, and
set up his dynasty to succeed him — this and much
else. David's heart was full of joy and gladness
— he knew that God would not run back from
His word ; but He felt none the less the duty of
claiming the fulfillments of these guarantees. So
it is with all the promises of God ; though they are
Yea and Amen in Christ, it is requisite for us to
put our hand on them ; plead them before God ;
and claim their fulfillment with appropriating faith.

Notice the attitude in tvhich David tittered these
words. — "He sat before the Lord." Was not
this the position of rest and trust? On another
occasion, he lay all night upon the earth (xii. 16),
in an agony of prayer, because not sure of God's
purpose, and hoping to turn God by the ex-
tremity of his anguish. But there is a marvellous
alteration in the tone of our prayer, so soon as we
can base it on the declared purposes of God.
We enter into His rest ; we put ourselves in the
current of His purposes ; we sit before the Lord.

Mark the blessedness of communion with God.
— It is as a man talks with his friend. We are not
required always to kneel when we pray, or to con
over a certain form of words; we can sit and talk
with God, catching up His words as they fall on
our hearts, and reflecting them back on Him in
praise, and prayer, and happy converse. All
true prayer originates in the declarations of God's
love, to each of which we answer, Do as Thou
hast said.

38

The silver and gold he had dedicated of all nations
which he subdued. 2 Sam. viii. 11.

DAVID might not build the temple, but he
was bent on making provision for it. Indeed,
Solomon had never been able to do as he did,
unless his father had gathered these stores of gold
and silver. Thus other men labor, and we enter
into their labors; but the accomplished building
is credited by God to each. He does not forget
David when Solomon's temple stands complete.
The reward is proportioned to each man's service,
according to his share.

It is a glorious thing when we not only defeat
our foes, but get spoils out of their overthrow
which we can use for the service of God and man.
It is as possible for us as for David. Out of our
failures, temptations, mistakes, let us get the
power of helping and directing others. In death
Jesus won the keys of death and Hades, and the
power to become a merciful and faithful High
Priest; and now He ever liveth to make inter-
cession for His people (Heb. vii. 25).

But the main lesson of tin's chapter is the fore-
shadowing of God's purpose, that Gentiles should
contribute to the building of His Temple. What
was literally true in the case of the Temple of
Solomon, is spiritually true of the heavenly
Temple, the Church. From every nation, and
kindred, people and tongue, souls are being
gathered, who form a spiritual house, a holy
Temple in the Lord. The whole world is
destined to contribute to that structure, which is
being prepared secretly and mystically, but shall
ere long be manifested in its full glory. It is
very interesting to get this suggestion from the
chronicles of a nation so exclusive and haughty
as the Jews. ''They shall come from the East
and West. . . ."

39

Thou shalt eat bread at my table continually.

2 Sam. ix. 7.

FOUR times in this chapter we are told of the
lame man eating bread at the royal table. But
what are these facts recorded and repeated for,
save to accentuate the infinite blessings which
come to us through the Divine love ?

Mephibosheth had done nothing to merit the
royal favor. Not a word is said of his being
well-favored and attractive. So far from that, he
was lame on both his feet, and probably a sickly
invalid. In his own judgment he was worthless
as a dead dog. His state was impoverished ; no
deed of prowess could win David's notice; he
was almost entirely at the mercy of his servant,
Ziba. In these respects there are many analogies
to our own condition in the sight of God. We
are lame indeed ; and, so far as we are concerned,
it is quite impossible that we should ever win the
Divine regard, or sit at His table among His sons.

But between David and Jonathan a covenant
had been struck, which had provided for the
children of the ill-fated Jonathan (i Sam. xx.
14-16). It was because of this sacred obligation
that Mephibosheth fared as he did. Look away,
child of God, to the covenant struck between
God and thy representative, the Son of His love.
It is idle of thee to seek to propitiate the Divine
favor, or earn a seat at His table ; but if thou art
willing to identify thyself with thy Lord, and to
shelter thyself in Him by the living union of
faith ; if thou canst base thy plea on the Blood
of the everlasting covenant — then the provisions
of that covenant between Father and Son shall
be extended to thee : and because of God's love
to Jesus thou slialt sit at the Divine table, and be
regarded as one of the heirs of the great King.

40

The Lord do that which seemeth Him good.

2 Sam. X. 12.

ISRAEL' was arrayed against overwhelming
odds. To human sight it must have appeared
very improbable that Joab would be able to hold
his own. However, he made the best arrange-
ments he could ; exhorted his men to be of good
courage and do their utmost; and then piously
left the issue to the God of battles.

There are times in all lives when the case seems
desperate. How can we meet with ten thousand
him who cometh against us with twenty thousand !
Heart and flesh fail. What resource is there,
then, save in the flight of the lonely man to the
only God? It is for God to act, since the help
of man is vain.

/// your personal straits. — When patience is
exhausted ; when the last handful is taken from
the barrel ; when complicated trials meet and
hem you in ; when the iron gate and the keepers
before the door appear to render escape impossi-
ble— then look up, God is marching with rein-
forcements to your aid.

In your work and war for God ifi the world.
— .We too often act and speak as if success were
to be won by the forces that we may be able to
bring into the field, whereas God asks us for
nothing more than fidelity and the right disposi-
tion of such forces as we can command ; He will
do all the rest.

In your outlook on the conflict between good and
evil. — It is quite true that there appears to be an
infinite disparity between the one and the other.
But there are other forces in the field than ap-
pear. There is another host of which God Him-
self is captain. When the enemy comes in like
a flood, the Spirit of the Lord lifts up the stand-
ard. "There is none like unto the God of
Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven to thy
help."

41

David tarried still at Jerusalem.

2 Sam. xi. /.

AH ! fatal dalliance in the arms of sensual ease !
It led to David's undoing. It was the time of
the year when kings generally went forth to the
fight; and in earlier days David would never
have thought of leaving to Joab or others the
strain and stress of conflict when there were hard
knocks to give and take. Indeed, on more than
one occasion his followers had remonstrated
against his exposing the Light of Israel to the
risks of the battlefield. But now he sends Joab
and his mighty men to fight against Ammon,
while he tarries securely at Jerusalem. Pn this
fatal lethargy he betrays the deterioration of his
soul. Already the walls were broken down, and
entrance into the citadel was easy. We are not
surprised to learn that as he sauntered lazily on
his palace roof in the sultry afternoon he was
swept away before the rush of sudden passion,
and took the poor man's ewe lamb to satisfy the
vagrant, hungry impulse which suddenly came to
him.

Beware of hours of ease ! Rest is necessary ;
times of recruiting and renewal must come to us
all ; nature positively demands re-creation ; but
there must be no neglect of known duty, no hand-
ing over to others of what we might and could
do ourselves, no tarrying behind the march of
the troops when we should go forth with them to
the battle. Watch and pray, that ye enter not
into temptation. Be most on guard when not
actively engaged against the enemy. One un-
locked gate may admit the foe to the citadel of
the life, and rob you of peace for all after-days.
The luxury of the plains of Capua was more fatal
to the soldiers of Hannibal than the passage of
the Alps.

42

And David went to Radbah, and fought against
it, a?id took it. 2 Sam. xii. 2g.

VICTORY might seem to have been forever
forfeited after so great a fall. We could not have
been surprised had we been told that from this
time onward the course of David's conquests had
stayed. And yet this thought would be a mis-
conception of God's dealings with the penitent.
Where there is true contrition, confession, and
faith. He not only forgives, but restores; He not
only restores to the enjoyment of His favor, but
reinstates in opportunities of usefulness. So
Jesus not only met the apostle who had denied
Him, and put him back into the old position of
happy fellowship, but gave him a commission to
feed His sheep and lambs.

We have sometimes met backsliders who have
doubted the possibility of their forgiveness ; or,
if they have realized this, they have never dared
to hope that they could ever be what they had
been. And so long as faith refuses to believe in
the perfect work of God's love, it must inevitably
take a back seat. Let us seek for such an entire
faith in God's forgiving and restoring love as to
dare to believe that we are put again into the old
place, and allowed to anticipate the same victories
as aforetime. "If we confess our sins. He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (i John

i. 9).

Directly David said, "I have sinned," in the
flash of a moment Nathan said, ** The Lord hath
put away thy sin " ; and when Joab sent tidings
that Rabbah was about to fall, David was per-
mitted the honor of its final capture, though it
had been associated so closely with Uriah's death.
Where sin abounds grace superabounds, and
reigns through righteousness. Dare to believe
this.

43

Then the king arose, and tare his garments, and
lay on the earth. 2 Sam. xiii. 31.

THROUGHOUT the incidents of this chap-
ter, the soul of David touched the bottom of the
sea of anguish and remorse. The circumstances
narrated were in themselves sad enough ; but
there was a more bitter element in them for
David, because he knew that they were the
harvest of which his own sin was the seed. Here
began to be fulfilled the sentence of God through
Nathan, ''The sword shall never depart from
thine house."

He had broken up the peace of another's
home, and peace had quitted his home, never to
return. He had defiled the purity of Uriah's
wife, and the purity of his own daughter had
been trampled under foot. He had smitten
Uriah, and now Absalom had murdered Amnon.
Through those awful hours when the entire fate
of the whole of his family seemed trembling in
the balance, he drank to the dregs the cup of
bitterness. Oh, how true are the apostle's
words: "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall
he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh
shall of the flesh reap corruption ; but he that
soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life
everlasting."

Sin resembles the Australian weed, which when
once it is sown in the waters will spread with
such rapidity as to spoil their beauty, and choke
their flow. We must distinguish between the
penal and natural results. The penal were borne
by Christ for us all, and are remitted forever-
more ; but the natural remain even to forgiven
penitents, as they did to David. Still, God's
grace may transmute them into blessings, and
cause pearls to grow where before there had been
gaping wounds. Ask God to take in hand the
natural consequences of your sins, and make
them means of grace and ennoblement.
44

Yet doth He devise means that His banished be
not expelled from Him. 2 Sam. xiv. 14.

THE means that David devised were really in-
adequate. He allowed his heart to dictate to his
royal sense of justice and rectitude, and permit-
ted Absalom to return to his country and home
without one word of confession, one symptom of
penitence. The king was overmastered by the
father ; and tlie result was disastrous. It shook
the respect of his people, undermined the founda-
tions of just government, slackened the bands of
every family in the land, and confirmed Absalom
in his willful and obstinate career. ** What ! "
said he to himself, " does my father bid me
come back without conditions ? Does he demand
no confession or reparation ? Then he condones
my sin."

Let parents be warned. If your children dis-
obey, and violate the rules of your home, you
have no right to treat them as you did before,
until they have owned their sin. You must insist
on penitence, confession, and reparation, though
it take hours or days or even weeks of suffering
and pleading to bring it about.

Into what relief does David's mistake throw
God's way of forgiveness and salvation ! Had he
acted as David, and as so many wish us to be-
lieve, He would have reinstated the human family
in the Paradise of His love without waiting for
the work of the Mediator, or the confession of
the prodigal. By the arbitrary exercise of His
sovereign will He might have wiped out the
record of our sins without our concurrence. But
it would have been to the irreparable undoing of
man. Hence it behoved Christ to suffer, by His
blood making an atonement for our sins, and by
His Spirit bringing us to penitence and con-
fession.

45

Here am /, let Him do to ftie as seemeth good
unto Him. 2 Sam. xv. 26.

There is the patience of hope. We love to
gird ourselves in the vehemence of our self-will,
to go where we choose, to rule the lives of
others ; but as the years pass and our pride is
humbled, the sinews of our strength slackened,
and the radiance of early prospects overcast, we
are willing to hand ourselves over to our Father,
saying, " Behold, here am I ; let Him do to me
as seemeth good unto Piim."

It was thus that Isaac was passive in the hands
of Abraham. It was thus that Jesus spoke to His
Father, " I come to do thy will, O my God." It
was thus that the maiden who was blessed above
women, answered the angel's message. It was
thus that Paul, when urged not to go up to Jeru-
salem, avowed his willingness to live or die, as
the Lord might choose.

God is ever working upon us through circum-
stances; and, as in the present case, sometimes
He overrules the plottings of wicked men to ful-
fill His Divine purpose. His will is sometimes
brought to us in a cup which a Judas holds to our
lips. How blessed to be able to say, as we go
forth to meet our Father's will. Behold, here am
I ! and to look beyond the plottings and machi-
nations of our enemies to One who loves us infi-
nitely. Whatever He permits must be good.
Good, if driven as an exile from our home;
good, if exposed to the revilings of a Shimei ;
good, if the heart breaks in bitter tears. All
must be good which the good Lord permits or
appoints. Many were the afflictions of David,
but out of them all he was delivered. When he
had learned the lesson, the rod was stayed. God
did not take away His mercy from him. Thou
too art in His hands, and He will certainly bring
thee again, and show thee the city and His habi-
tation.

46

The king and all the people came weary y and re-
freshed themselves there. 2 Sam. xvi. 14.

A GREAT weariness falls often on our souls.
We are wearied because of the greatness of our
way, and inclined to say there is no hope.
Memory tires us, perpetually casting up the
record of past unfaithfulness and transgression.
The bitter way of the natural consequences of sin
is toilsome and difficult to the feet. We faint
before the averted eye of former friends and the
pitiless criticism of foes. Longings for a van-
ished past, for life and love, for purity and peace,
grind heavily in the soul. Our King has known
something of human weariness, though not from
all the sources that cause it in His subjects.

But amid the presence of our weariness the
voice of God may be heard saying, ** This is the
rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest,
and this is the refreshing." I'here is rest for
weary souls beneath the shadow of the cross, in
the sight of which the burden rolls away. There
is rest and refreshment as we sit in the banquet-
ing house of Christ's manifested and realized af-
fection. There is refreshment as we eat of His
flesh and drink of His blood ; as we yield our
will to His; as we sit with Him in heavenly
places. We assuredly find Him to be *' a hiding
place from the wind, and a covert from the tem-
pest ; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the
shadow of a great rock in a weary land" (Isa.
xxxii. 2).

There is no hill Difficulty without its arbor ;
no desert without its oasis ; no sultry heat with-
out its shadow of a great rock ; no weariness
without its pillow ; no intolerable sorrow without
its solace ; no weariness without its refreshment;
no failure of man without a very present help in
God.

47

Arise, and pass quickly over the ivater.

2 Sam. xvii. 21.

THE water of Jordan may serve as an illustra-
tion for our position. Our David has passed
over the waters of death, and in doing so has
taken us with Him. There is a sense in which
in the morning light of Easier Day all who be-
lieved passed over with Him, so that "by the
morning light there lacked not one of them that
was not gone over to Jordan."

We all hold the doctrine of Substitution. Do
we sufficiently realize that of Identificatio?i ?
Not only did Jesus die for us, but we died with
and in Him. In Him, as tlie true Noah's Ark,
the whole Church passed over the Jordan of
death from the old world to the new. There are
some who do not understand that in the purpose
of God we are already standing on resurrection
ground. Across the water we can hear the mur-
mur of the world, and detect its corruption ; but
we are the inheritors of the world in which there
is no death nor corruption nor the dominion of
sin. When a man realizes this he no longer
braces himself up to meet death, because he
knows that in the person of Christ he has left it
behind forever.

What is true, however, in God's purpose should
be the aim and goal of our daily striving. To us
there comes the unceasing call, "Arise, and go
over Jordan." There is always a thither and a
hither side for every experience and act. We
may always do as the world does ; this is to stay
on the death side. We may always do as Christ
does; this is to pass over to the risen and living
side. Reckon that you have died, and mortify
the deeds of your body. " And if Christ be in
you, the body is dead because of sin ; but the
spirit is life because of righteousness."

48

Wherefore wilt thou ru7i ? . . . Come what may^
said he, I will run. 2 Sam. xviU. 22, 2j (r.v.).

JOAB did not love David, as Ahimaaz did,
and could not understand what made the young
man so eager to carry the tidings. Doubtless
Ahimaaz and Cushi entirely misinterpreted the
heart of David, and thought tliat he would be
glad to hear that the rebellion was stamped out,
and Absalom was dead. And it was because of
the pleasure which he thought to give his king
that the swift-footed son of Zadok pleaded for
permission to run. What though there would
be no reward, or that it would fall to the lot of
Cushi, who had already started at Joab's com-
mand— that mattered not, the love of David con-
strained him.

How often that question of reward is thrown
at the servants of God. It is one of the favorite
taunts of the world ; as Satan said of Job, that
we do as we do because we are paid. "Doth
Job serve God for nought?" And nothing so
startles men as disinterested service. They can-
not account for it ; but it wins their respect.
"Reward or no reward; recompense or none ;
smiles or tears, come what may, let me run."
That is the spirit that becomes a Christian, and
convinces the world. "The love of Christ con-
straineth us."

Ahimaaz outran Cushi. The one was a volun-
teer for love's dear sake ; the other, a bond-serv-
ant, doing as he was told. Love loaned wings
to his feet, and speeding past his fellow bore him
first into David's presence. So God's will is done
in heaven: "The cherubim ran and returned
like a flash of lightning." So God's will is done
on earth : " They departed quickly from the
tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring
His disciples word. And behold, Jesus met
them, saying, All hail ! "

49

The King is near of kin to 21s.

2 Sa?)i. xix. 42.

THERE are two derivations for the word
king : one from the word can — the king is the
man that can do things; the other from the word
kin — the king is closely related to us, of our
kith and kin. In either case, there is a beauti-
ful meaning, as touching our Lord and Saviour.
He is King, because He has overcome our ene-
mies, and can overcome. He is King, because
He has taken on Himself our flesh and blood,
and has forever made us one with Himself. The
King is our kinsman. Our kinsman is King.

It is very comforting to know how really our
Lord has identified Himself with us. The Gos-
pels are full of the wonderful story. His kinship
was manifested in —

His Prayers. — He bade us speak to God as
our Father; in that marvellous possessive pro-
noun, not only linking us all to one another, but
including Himself in our petitions, save when we
ask for forgiveness.

His Infirmities. — "We have not a high priest
who cannot be touched with the feeling of our
infirmities." His hunger and thirst; His weari-
ness and exhaustion ; His suffering unto death —
all accentuate the closeness of the tie between us.

His Temptations . — " In all points tempted like
as we are, yet without sin." The avenues
through which the tempter could approach Him
were those by which He assails us also. No
temptation took Him, but such as is common to
man. So to every lonely soldier of His He
draws near, saying, "Be of good cheer; I have
passed through it all. I am your brother in the
fight ; I feel for you with a quick sympathy ; the
glories of my throne do not alter my true-hearted
love. ' '

50

The men of Judah clave unto their King.

2 Sam. XX. 2.

WE are reminded of the exhortation of the
good Barnabas, that with purpose of heart the
converts of Antioch should cleave unto the Lord.
This is the test of a true faith. We often come to
the dividing of the paths. We stand on the
watershed of the hills : that way leads back to
Moab with its fascinations; this on to Canaan
with its spiritual attractions. Orpah and Ruth
must choose. Each is equally profuse in speeches
and tears; but the ultimate test of love is
whether they will stay or go. Which will cleave
to the widowed Naomi? She is the truest lover;
her fidelity will attest the fervor and strength of
her affection. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law,
and returned to her people and her gods, while
Ruth "clave unto her."

We must cleave to Jesus, /;/ spite of the derision
of the viidtitude. We must be prepared to stand
with Him when He stands alone, or goes forth
alone to die. We must be willing to stem the
mighty tide of the world which has left Him and
pours past us. Though all forsake Him, yet we
must cleave.

We must cleave to Jesus, in spite of the rebel-
lion of the flesh. Our whole nature may some-
times rise in insurrection, demanding some for-
bidden fruit. It is no child's play then for the
lonely will to stand by itself in unshaken fidelity
and loyalty; but it must.

We must cleave to Jesus when He seems to re-
buff us. Only those who can stand so sharp an
ordeal, are exposed to it. But sometimes we are
called to pass through it as Job, that angels may
learn how Christ's lovers cling to Him, not for
His gifts, but for Himself.

51

Because he slew the Gibeonites.

2 Sam. xxi. i.

THE Gibeonites were under the protection of
a special covenant, which had been entered into
between them and Joshua. That covenant was
the outcome of a ruse on their part. But since
it had been most solemnly made by the leaders of
Israel, it held good. The fact of their deceit and
chicanery could not absolve Israel from the oath
which had been passed for their safety. For cen-
turies the provisions of this covenant had been
observed, till Saul invaded them, and slew the
Gibeonites. This was a grievous sin, which, ac-
cording to the religious light of the time, seemed
to demand blood ; and David proposed to atone
for blood by blood. Nothing but blood could
atone for sin so black and dark.

We are also protected by a covenant, into
which the Father has entered with the Son, not
for our worthiness or merit, but only because He
would. The provisions of that covenant engage
to take us to be His people, to remember our sins
no more, and to make the Divine law the object
of our love (Heb. viii.). And the argument is
irresistible, that if man is so mindful of a cov-
enant as to feel that its infraction is a sin which
can only be expiated by blood-shedding, it is im-
possible to suppose that God will ever run back
from His.

O my soul, thou mayest rest secure in this :
here is an everlasting rock ; this foundation shall
suffice thee forevermore. Thou art in the Son of
His love. Though thou art sinful and evil, yet
thou art included in the covenant which is
more lasting than that of day and night. Jesus
has met its conditions on thy behalf, and has un-
dertaken to secure thy obedience and holiness.

Thy gentleness hath made me great.

2 Sain. xxii. j6.

THE triumph of God's gentle goodness will
be our song forever. In those far distant ages,
when we look back on our earthly course, as a
grown man on his boyhood, and when the words
of this Psalm shall express our glad emotions, we
shall recognize that the Hand which brought us
thither was as gentle as our mother's ; and that
the things we craved, but failed to receive, were
withheld by His gentle goodness. Our history
tells what gentleness will do.

The Apostle besought the Corinthian converts
by the gentleness of Christ (2 Cor. x. i). Though
there were abuses amongst them that seemed to
call for stringent dealing, he felt that tliey could
be best removed by the gentle love which he had
learned from the heart of Christ. The wisdom
which is from above is gentle as well as pure ; and
in dealing with the sin that chokes our growth, it
is probable that gentleness will do more than
severity. The gentleness of the nurse that cher-
ishes her children ; of the lover to her whom he
cherishes above himself; of the infinite love
which bears and endures to the uttermost — is the
furnace before which the foul ingredients of our
hearts are driven never to return. We might
brave the lion ; we are vanquished by the Lamb ;
we could withstand the scathing look of scorn ;
but when the gentle Lord casts on us the look of
ineffable tenderness, we go out to weep bitterly.

That He has borne with us so lovingly; that
He has filled our lives with mercy even when
compelled to correct ; that He has never altered
in His tender behavior toward us ; that He has
returned our rebuffs and slights with meekness and
forbearance ; that He has never wearied of us —
this is an everlasting tribute to the gentleness that
makes great.

53

As the light of the morning when the sun risethy
a morning without clouds. 2 Sam. xxiU. 4.

THE dealings of God with man are compared
to morning light, and the sprouting of tender
grass in the sunshine that follows rain. The one
may refer to youth, and the other to age. In
each there is sunlight : in the one case it is before
the clouds have gathered ; in the other after they
have dispersed.

Clouds. — There are many different sorts : the
cirrus, like platines in the sky; the cumulus, in
heaps, like the summits of distant mountains ; the
strata, or long bars; the nimbus, heavy with
sliowers. There is a counterpart for each in
human life, without which we should miss much
of those experiences of light and shade that so
frequently reveal the nature of the light. We
should not know God's comfort and very present
help, if it were not for the clouds which are born
in the marsh-lands of trouble. Who does not
prefer the changeful beauty of an English spring
to the unclouded blue of Italian skies?

The Light of the Morning. — The love of God
steals over hearts as the dawn. He is the Rock ;
but His advent breaks gently as light. So God's
love came to Lydia, whose heart opened as a
flower its petals. This makes it difficult for some
of us to decide the moment of our regeneration ;
only we know that, once darkness, we are now
light in the Lord.

Clear Shining after Rain. — We all know some-
thing of cloud and rain. If we did not, our
lives would be arid as a desert. Rain is neces-
sary to fructify the seeds that lie buried in the
soil; but clear shining is needed too. Times of
joy are needed equally as those of sorrow. The
tender grass is the child of rain and sun. Hast
thou had tears, thou shalt have smiles ! Hast
thou had clouds and rain, thou shalt have clear
shining !

54

Neither will I offer burnt-offerings . . . of that
which hath cost me nothing. 2 Sam. xxiv. 24.

GOD'S love to us cost Him something. He
spared not His own Son, and that Son spared not
His blood. But how little our love to Him costs
us ! Let us understand that where there is true,
strong love to Jesus, it will cost us something.
Love is the costliest of all undertakings.

It will cost us Self-denial. Christ and self are
perfectly incompatible ; to have the one we must
be prepared to surrender the other. The heart
subtly schemes to hold both ; but it does not de-
ceive Christ. He knows in a moment when we
have preferred to spare ourselves and to sacrifice
Him, or to obey Him and sacrifice ourselves.
We know it also. At first we may find it an ef-
fort to count all things but loss for Him ; but as
we go on doing it, and drink in the fresh air that
breathes about the mountains of self-denial —
above all, as we see the smile of pleasure on His
face — our hearts leap with joy, and we love to
give Him everything, not thinking of the cost,
any more than Mary did when she broke the ala-
baster box of very precious ointment. After all,
it is but fitting that we offer our bodies ** a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God."

It will cost us Companionships. Those who
knew us will pass us with averted faces. It will
cost us hard-earned money ; for we shall realize
that we have no property in anything that we pos-
sess. It will cost us high repute amongst our fel-
lows. But what shall we mind if we gain Christ ?
You cannot give up for Him without regaining
everything you have renounced ; but purified and
transfigured. Did not the Lord say so ? And
did He not add a hundredfold, with persecutioii.
Let us heartily respond, "Lord, Thou knowest
all things : " Thou knowest that I love Thee !

65

As the Lord liveth, that hath redeemed my soul
out of all distress. i Kings i. zg.

" IN my distress I called on the Lord, and
cried to my God." Never let there be distress
without its cry. He will hear your voice out of
His temple, and your cry will come before Him
even into His ears. He will answer, and set you
in a large place. There is even a gain to be won
from distress, because it brings out new phases of
Christ's redemptive help.

God redeemed David from the calumny of those
who maligned him without cause. In so many of
his Psalms he refers to the unjust and cruel hatred
which misrepresented him and his doings. But
God, to whom he committed his cause, vindi-
cated him, so that his righteousness shone as the
light, and his judgment as the noonday. So He
will do for you. Those who now lay all manner
of unkind charges to your door, will be com-
pelled to admit your innocence. Only leave
your cause with God, and be still.

God redeemed David from all the afflictions
that shadowed his early days : from his wanderings
in the wilderness; from his hairbreadth escapes
in the caves; from meeting his death on many a
terrible battlefield. We hardly realize, just now,
how much we owe to the Angel of God's redemp-
tion, who is ever beside us, environing us with
careful love, so that no evil may approach us, or
snare take our feet. Our pathway is thick with
snares and dangers, as the pilgrims found it when
journeying through the valley of the shadow ; but
there is a way out, and in the morning we shall
marvel to see how we escaped.

God redeemed David's life from destruction.
This was the greatest miracle of all, when we
consider the strong passions that slumbered within
liim, breaking out whenever he broke loose from
God's grace.

56

That the Lord may continue His word.

I Kings ii. ^.
HOW strongly David held to God's promise !
It was deeply graven in his soul. How could he
forget the word which guaranteed the succession
of his race upon the throne of Israel I At the
same time he distinctly recognized that the fulfill-
ment was conditional. There was an if in it. It
was only in so far as his children took heed to
walk before God in truth that God was bound to
place them on the throne of Israel ; therefore he
urged Solomon to keep the charge of the Lord,
that the Lord might continue His word. We
also must obey the threefold condition if we
would enjoy a continuance of God's helpful care.

1. Be thou strong. — The strength which is in
Jesus Christ waits to make us strong. In the
Lion of the tribe of Judah there is the boldness
which will not swerve in the face of the foe.
Timid women and little children in the days of
persecution have waxed valiant in the fight, and
have not flinched from death, because Jesus was
beside them.

2. Keep the charge of the Lord thy God. — He
has committed to our care many a sacred deposit,
in return for our deposit with Him (2 Tim. i. 12.,
14; R. v., marg.). They are His holy Gospel,
the Rest Day, the doctrines of the Evangelical
Faith, and the Inspired Word. Let us watch
them until we see them weighed out in the temple
as were the sacred vessels which Ezra committed
to the priests for transport across the desert (Ezra
viii. 33).

3. Keep His statutes and commandments. — We
must obey with reverent care the one great law of
love, which includes all the rest. Acting thus,
we shall put ourselves in the way of enjoying a
continuance of that favor which God has prom-
ised.

67

/ have also given thee that which thou hast not
asked. i Khigs Hi. ij.

THE understanding heart was Solomon's su-
preme request, and it was given him before the
morning light had broken over Jerusalem. But
God did exceeding abundantly beyond what he
asked or thought. Riches and honor, victory
and long life, were thrown in as part of the Di-
vine gift ; as paper and string are given by the
tradesmen with the goods we purchase. It seems
as though our Lord's words were anticipated,
"Seek first the kingdom of God and His right-
eousness, and all these things shall be added unto
you."

Put first things first. — One of the most im-
portant lessons of life is to discern the relative
value of the objects within our reach. The child
will take the handful of glass beads, and leave the
heap of diamonds in the rough. It is the terri-
ble mistake of men that, perplexed by earth's
cross-lights, they put evil for good and good for
evil ; they make earth rather than heaven their
centre ; time rather than eternity their measure-
ment.

Seek God a?id all thifigs in Him. — Things
without God cannot satisfy the craving of the
soul. To know God, and to be known by Him,
is to possess all things. All that is lovely, strong,
or right, in any human being was in the Creator
before it entered the creature ; having God, you
possess all things in Him.

Be 7nore careful of what you are than what you
have. — A man's life consisteth not in the abun-
dance of things that he possesseth ; but in his
purity, truth, tenderness, and the properties of
his soul. The fruit of the Spirit must ever be
manifest in the life of the believer — "Love, joy,
peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness, temperance."
58

Largeness of heart.

I Kings iv. zg.

WE must all admit that our soul is too narrow.
It holds too little, knows too little, is deficient in
will-power, and, above all, in capacity of love;
and when we are called to run in the way of
God's commandments, we break down in despair,
and cry, "If I am to be a runner, Thou must
first enlarge my heart."

How little we know of the experience which
Madame Guyon describes when she says : " This
vastness or enlargedness, which is not bounded by
anything, increases every day ; so that my soul in
partaking of the qualities of her Spouse seems
also to partake of his immensity."

"There is," remarks one of the old Puritans,
" a straitness, slavery, and narrowness, in all sin;
sin crumples up our souls; which, if they were
freely spread abroad, would be as large and wide
as the whole universe. No man is truly free ; but
he that hath his will enlarged to the extent of
God's will, by loving whatsoever God loves, and
nothing else, he enjoys boundless liberty, and a
boundless sweetness." God's love embraces the
universe. He " so loved the world that He gave
His only-begotten Son." We who have partaken
of the Divine nature must also love as He does.

Thomas a Kempis says, finally: "He who
desires glory in things outside of God, or to take
pleasure in some private good, shall many ways
be encumbered and straitened; but if heavenly
grace enter in, and true charity, there will be no
envy, neither narrowness of heart, neither will
self-love busy itself, for Divine charity over-
cometh all things, and enlargeth all the powers
of the soul." Give unto us, O God, this large-
ness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea-
shore !

59

Now the Lord my God hath given me rest on
every side. i Kings v. 4.

GOD is the Rest-Giver. When He surrounds
us on every side with His protecting care, so that
our life resembles one of the cities of the Nether-
lands in the great war — inaccessible to the foe
because surrounded by the waters of the sea, ad-
mitted through the sluice — then neither adversary
nor evil occurrent can break in, and we are kept
in perfect peace, our minds being stayed on
God.

Hidden in the hollow of His blessed hand.
Never foe can enter, never traitor stand.

Have you experienced the rest which comes by
putting God round about you, on every side —
like the light which burns brightly on a windy
night because surrounded by its four panes of
clear glass? Ah ! what a contrast between the
third and fourth verse : Wars on every side ;
Rest on every side. And yet the two are com-
patible, because the wars expend themselves on
God, as the waves on the shingle; and there are
far reaches of rest within, like orchards and
meadows and pasture-lands beyond the reach of
the devastating water.

Out of such rest should come the best work.
We are not surprised to find Solomon announc-
ing his purpose to build a house unto the name
of the Lord. Mary, who sat at the feet of Jesus,
anointed Him. Out of quiet hearts arise the
greatest resolves ; just as from the seclusion of
country hamlets have come the greatest warriors,
statesmen, and patriots. Men think, foolishly,
that the active, ever-moving souls are the strong-
est. It is not so, however. They expend them-
selves before the day of trial comes. Give me
those who have the power to restrain themselves
and wait ; these are they that can act with the
greatest momentum in the hour of crisis.
CO

There was neither haj/wier, nor axe, nor any tool
of iron heard. i A'iugs vi. 7.

IN absolute silence, like the growth of a palm
in the desert, that noble building arose in the
symmetry of its fair proportions. But there was
plenty of quarrying and hammering and chisel-
ling before the materials were brought to the
site.

The absolute silence with which the Temple
rose is a meet emblem of the progress of the
Church, from its foundations laid in the Aposto-
late toward the top stone, which before very long
will be laid upon the completed structure. Amid
the rise and fall of dynasties and empires, the
Church is being built. Soul after soul, as so
many added bricks, is being quietly placed upon
the walls. Some day the world will be amazed
when it sees the New Jerusalem descend out of
heaven from God. The mightiest works of God
are the fruit of silence.

You and I are now in the quarry, hewn,
chipped, chiselled : or we are in the saw-pit, be-
ing sawn, planed, pierced by nails. Be of good
cheer ! It will not be long, the preparatory work
will be over, and we shall become part of the
eternal structure. Into heaven there can enter
neither hammer, nor axe, nor any tool of iron.
The trial will have done its work. Sorrow and
crying will flee away. The Apostle Paul, who
knew more than any man what trial and pain
meant, could confidently declare: ** I reckon
that the sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory which
shall be revealed in us." Then shall the city of
God shine forth in completed beauty, her walls
Salvation and her gates Praise ; and the triumph-
ant song of the redeemed shall ring forth :
" Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be
unto Him that sitteth upon the throne and unto
the Lamb forever and ever."
61

In the phmi of Jordan did the king cast them.

I Kings vii. 46.

THE Apostle tells us to obey from the heart
that mould or form of doctrine to which we were
delivered (Rom. vi. 17). What a mould is to
the metal which is wrought into various forms of
utensils, that the form of sound doctrine is to be-
lievers who desire to resemble Christ. When our
hearts, melted in contrition and penitence, are
poured into the teaching of the Apostles, to
ponder it in memory, and to carry it out in life,
they are, so to speak, cast into the pattern of
Jesus Christ, which they wear forevermore.
Thus we are conformed to the image of His Son.

We differ as widely as the vessels named here.
Some are lavers, and some bases ; some shovels,
and some basins. It matters little what shape we
bear ; so long as we are cleansed and meet for
the Master's use. Each vessel in Solomon's tem-
ple filled its own niche. The machinery of the
whole would have been hindered if one had been
missing. Be content with the shape which the
Great Designer hath intended for thee. Yield to
it. Dare to pour thyself into the dark passages
of the mould. Do not ask the intention of this
or that. Obey from the heart, otherwise thou
mayest have to be broken up, and put back again
into the furnace to go through the process once
more. This is the Plain of the Jordan for us,
the place of death; but soon we shall be re-
mitted to the Palace and Temple of God.

There is no clue to the understanding of the
mysteries of our mortal life, save the hypothesis,
that we are being prepared for the position which
has been prepared for us in the eternal world.
" And we know that all things work together for
good to them that love God."

62

That He maintain the cause of His servant^ as
every day shall require. i Kivgs viii. 59 (r. v.).

THE R. V. marginal reading is, "The thing
of a day in its day." What rest would come
into our lives, if we really believed that God
maintained the cause of His servants ! Men hate
you, and say unkind or untrue things about you ;
on your pari, though you are quite prepared to
admit that you have made mistakes, yet you know
that you desire above all things to act as God's
servant should, that your motives are sincere,
and your hands clean — be of good courage then,
God will maintain your cause, as every day may
require.

Or, you are beset by strong competition ; and,
in order to hold your own, you have been
tempted to do what is not perfectly the best — to
spice your teaching with a little heterodoxy, puff
your wares with misleading titles, to adulterate
your goods. But there is no need to do this ; if
only you are faithful to God, He will maintain
your cause, as every day may require.

Or, you are tempted almost beyond endurance,
and think that you must yield. The seductions
are so insidious, the pitfalls so carefully con-
cealed, the charm of evil so subtle. But, if you
will only look away to God, you will find Him a
very present help to maintain your cause. Oh,
trust Him ; for none of them that do so can be
desolate. Daily strength for daily need ; daily
manna for daily hunger ; daily maintenance for
daily temptation. These are assured.

As we stand on the hilltop in the morning
and look across the valley of the coming day, its
scenes are too closely veiled in heavy-hanging
mists for us to specify all our requests. We can
breathe the comprehensive petition, "Give us
this day our daily bread." And God will suit
His help to each requirement. As the moment
arrives "the thing " will be there.
G3

/ have hallowed this house which thou hast built.

I Kings ix. J.

MAN builds; God hallows. This coopera-
tion between man and God pervades all life.
Man performs the outward and mechanical ; God
the inward and spiritual. Paul plants, Apollos
waters ; but God gives the increase. We elabo-
rate our sermons and addresses, building them
up with careful, eager thought; but God must
work in and through them for His own glory in
the salvation and upbuilding of souls. We must
be careful to do our part with reverence and
godly fear, remembering that God must work in
realms we cannot touch, and to issues we cannot
reach, before our poor exertions can avail.

May we not apply this especially to the educa-
tion of a child's life ? Many who read these
lines are engaged in building structures which
will outlive the Pyramids. The body is only the
scaffolding, behind and tlirough which the build-
ing of the soul is being upreared. The materials
with which we build may be the gold, silver,
and precious stones, of our example, precept,
careful watching, and discipline; but God must
come in to hallow. Our strenuous endeavor
must be supplemented by the incoming of the
Holy Spirit.

God hallows by His indwelling. Holiness is
the result of His putting His Name into a place,
a day, a human soul ; for His Name is His na-
ture, Himself. Each day may be a building,
reared between sunrise and sunset, with our ac-
tivities ; but it were vain to hope to realize our
ideal unless the structure become a temple filled
with God. Build what you will ; but never be
satisfied unless God sets His eyes and heart upon
your life, hallowing and sanctifying each day
and act to Himself.

64

Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in
thee. I Kings x. g.

THERE were two reasons why Solomon was
on the throne. First, because of God's love to
him ; secondly, because of God's love to Israel.
May we not address our Saviour with similar ex-
pressions of gladness as those which the queen
addressed to a less than He?

How well it is, now and again, to let our-
selves go in exuberant adoration ! Prayer is
good, but it may revolve too largely about our
own needs and desires : thanks are right, when
we have received great benefits at His hands ; but
praise is best, because the heart forgets itself and
earth and time, in enlarged conceptions of its
adorable Lover and Saviour.

We are reminded in this connection of a noble
hymn of old John Ryland : —

" Thou Son of God, and Son of Man,
Beloved, adored Emmanuel,
Who didst, before all time began.
In glory with Thy Father dwell :

" We sing Thy love, who didst in time,
For us, humanity assume.
To answer for the sinner's crime,
To suffer in the sinner's room.

" The ransomed Church Thy glory sings,
The hosts of heaven Thy will obey ;
And, Lord of lords, and King of kings,
We celebrate Thy blessed sway."

We can never praise Him enough. Our furthest
thoughts fall short of the reality. His wisdom
and prosperity exceed His fame. No question
He cannot answer; no desire He cannot gratify ;
no munificence He cannot excel. Happy are
they who stand continually before Him. Let us
see that this is our happy privilege ; not content
to pay Him a transient visit, returning to our
own land, but communing with Him always of
that which is in our heart.
65

His wives turned away his heart.

I Kings xi. 4.

EVERY man is vulnerable at one point of his
character. Strong everywhere else, and armor-
plated, he is weak there ; and our great enemy
knows just where to strike home. It would have
been useless to argue with Solomon for the claims
of idols. He could at once, by his wisdom,
have annihilated all infidel arguments, and have
established the existence and unity of God.
But, step by step, he was led by silken cords, a
captive, to the worship of other gods. It is a
solemn warning; and Nehemiah was perfectly
justified when, in his contention with the Jews
who had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon,
and of Moab, he said, "Did not Solomon, king
of Israel, sin by these things ? Yet among many
nations there was no king like him who was be-
loved of his God."

Let young people beware where they let their
hearts go forth in love. Whom we love we re-
semble ; and in the marriage tie it is almost inev-
itable that seductions to the lower will overcome
the drawings to the higher. When a Christian
disobeys God's distinct command against inter-
marriage with the ungodly, he begins to sink to
the level of his ungodly partner whom he had
thought to raise to his own religious standing.

Our associates determine the drift and current
of our life. It is so easy to launch upon the cur-
rent that flows past our feet ; it seems impossible
that the laughing, enticing water should ever
carry us against sharp, splintering rocks, or over
breaking cataracts. When we are compelled to
associate with the ungodly, let us maintain a
strict self- watch, and pray that the breath of the
heavenward gale may more than counteract the
tendency of the earthward current.

66

The vioiith which he had devised of his 0W7i heart.

I Kings xii. 33.

JEROBOAM acted on expediency. It did
seem reasonable to argue that the constant going
up to Jerusalem to worsliip might alienate the
people from his throne, and awaken a desire for
the old national unity ; and without doubt a mere
worldly wisdom extolled his setting-up of idol-
gods at Bethel and Dan ; but his policy in this
respect led to the downfall of his kingdom. Had
he trusted God's promise, made through the
prophet Ahijah, the Divine purpose would have
ensured the continuance of his rule; but the
prompting of expediency resulted in ultimate dis-
aster (ch. xiv.).

How prone we all are to devise out of our own
hearts ! We take counsel with ourselves, and do
what seems prudent and farseeing, with the in-
evitable result of being betrayed into courses of
action that God cannot approve, and of which
we have reason to repent bitterly. It is infinitely
better to wait on God till He develop His plan,
as He most certainly will, when the predestined
hour strikes. He who trusts in his own heart,
and takes his own way, is a fool. To run before
God is to sink knee-deep into the swamp. We
must make all things after the pattern shown us
on the Mount, and take our time from God's
almanac. What a contrast to the course of Jer-
oboam was that of the Son of Man ! He would
do nothing of Himself. His eye was always on
His Father's dial-plate, and thus He knew when
His time was not yet fulfilled. He was always
consulting the movement of His Father's will, and
did only those things which He saw His Father
doing. Similarly make God's will and way thy
Pole-star. Oh to be able to say with our blessed
Lord, " I seek not mine own will, but the will of
Him that sent Me' M

67

Forasmuch as thou hast been disobedient^ . . .
but earnest back. i Kings xiii. 21, 22 (r. v.).

WE are inclined at first sight to pity this un-
known propliet, and to justify his return; but as
we look closer into the story, we not only discover
the reason for the severe penalty that overtook
him, but we are warned lest we make a similar
mistake. When we have received a direct com-
mand fresh from the lips of Christ, we must act
on it, and not be turned aside by a different sug-
gestion, made to us through the lips of professing
Christians. God does not vacillate or alter in the
thing which proceeds from His mouth. When
we know we are in the line of His purpose, we
must not allow ourselves to be diverted by any
appeal or threat, from whomsoever it may ema-
nate. Deal with God at first-hand.

The rule for determining the true worth of the
advice which our friends proffer us, is to ask,
first, whether it conflicts with our own deep-seated
conviction of God's will ; and, secondly, whether
it tends to the ease and satisfaction of the flesh,
as the old prophet's suggestion certainly did.
Beware of any one who allures you with the bread
and water that are to break your fast. That bait
is likely enough to disturb the balance of your
judgment. When a voice says spare thyself, be
on the alert ; it savors the things that be of man,
not of those that be of God.

Learn to deal with God at first-hand. Do not
run hither and thither to human teachers, or to
the Church. Be still before God, and what He
says in the depths of thy soul, do. His Holy
Spirit shall guide you into all truth ; and when
once His way has been revealed to thee, go
straight on, listening to no other voice, however
much it professes Divine inspiration.

68

/ am setit to thee with heavy tidings.

I Kings xiv. 6.

HOW foolish ! Jeroboam thought that the
old prophet could penetrate the vail that hid the
future, but not the disguise in which his wife
wished to conceal herself. As we might have ex-
pected, the aged prophet's inner sight read her
heart. From God no secrets are hid. Immedi-
ately on His accosting her by her name there
came the dread announcement of inevitable dis-
aster.

We must not hesitate to unfold all the conse-
quences of sin. As watchmen on the walls, we
are bound to tell men of the certain fearful look-
ing for of fiery indignation which shall devour
the transgressors. None of us should flinch from
declaring the whole counsel of God. We should
specially insist on the gidit side of sin. Not
only that it is a misfortune, a mistake, an error, a
disease, a tyranny ; but a crime. The sinner is
a criminal, who has incurred the just wrath and
anger of a holy God : for which he must suffer a
due recompense.

Oh for more tenderness that we may with tears
warn men of their doom ! We are so self-pos-
sessed, so stolid ; we need to ask that our eyes,
like Jeremiah's, should be fountains of tears,
that we might weep day and night. If the tid-
ings are heavy, let us first feel their pressure on
our own hearts ; let us bend over the regions of
despair and darkness, and hear the bitter weep-
ing, wailing, and gnashing of teeth, and come
back to warn our brethren, lest they also come to
that place of torment. Though it was with fear
and much trembling that Paul preached the
Gospel, yet he did not shun to declare the whole
counsel of God. And while we go to men with
the good tidings of salvation, we must not with-
hold the heavy tidings from those who persist in
unbelief.

Asa did . . . righf in the eyes of the Lord, as
did David his father. i Kings xv. n.

IT is a great thing to have such a testimony as
this. We may do right in our own eyes ; yet
the eye of the Lord may detect evil which
neither our associates nor we have seen. We
may deceive ourselves, we may deceive others ;
but we cannot deceive God. In the home or
business, in situation or factory, let us live as
under the searching gaze of God.

Asa's life was one of religious activity : he
destroyed the idols of his father, and even de-
posed his queen-mother, " because she made an
idol in a grove." It needs Divine courage so to
live for God that at home or afield men shall take
knowledge of us that we have been with Jesus.
This is what the world is languishing for — reality,
consistency under all circumstances, and before
all men.

There are, however, two clouds overhanging
this otherwise briglit life. " The high places
were not removed" (14). Though idols were
destroyed, the groves in which they were erected
remained. They were no snare to him ; and he
took care that during his life they should not en-
snare others; but after his death, in the reign of
Jehoshaphat his son, "the people offered and
burned incense " in them (xxii. 43). We must
not only cleanse our way before the Lord, but
remove any evil thing which may cause others to
stumble.

The other cloud is indicated in 2 Chron. xvi.
12: "He was diseased in his feet . . . Yet in
his disease he sought not to the Lord, but to the
physicians." Strange that in affliction he should
not have turned to the Great Physician. The
enemy of souls is ever on the watch. Pray that
amid the pains of death, you may not act un-
worthily.

70

Ahab did more to provoke the Lord to anger than
all the kings. i Kings xvi. jj.

HIS sin was very aggravated, largely through
the influence of Jezebel, his young and beauti-
ful wife, who introduced the abominations of
Phoenician idol-worship. This is why he is said
to have exceeded his predecessors in wickedness.
They broke the second commandment, and wor-
shipped Jehovah under the form of a calf. Ahab
and Jezebel broke the fust, and chose other gods
— Baal, the sun, and Ashtoreth, the moon. The
inveterate love for this idolatry was connected
with licentious rites with which these deities were
served. What wonder that the land became cor-
rupt when the fountains of its religious life were
polluted at the source ?

The connection between the indulgence of im-
purity and the declension of the spiritual life, is
very close. As the apostle Paul tells us in Ro-
mans i., the men that refuse to retain God in
their knowledge are given up to the working of
passion ; and as they yield to passion they lose
the sweet, clear impression of the truth and near-
ness of the Christ. The first, second, and third
thing to be said to young people on venturing
out into the world, corrupt through many deceit-
ful lusts, is, Be pure. Wear the white flower of
a blameless life. If you cannot be faultless, be
blameless. If you cannot realize all the good
you know, at least refrain from all the evil.
Keep your robes unspotted from the world. Then
through purity of heart and obedience in life,
you shall see God. As the living Christ enters
the heart, He will drive before Him the brute
forms of evil, overthrow the tables of the money-
changers, and will sit to teach of God. Give
yourself unreservedly into His keeping, that He
may govern and control every avenue of your
life.

71

/ have commanded the ravens . . . a widow
woman . . . there. i Kings xvii. 4, g.

WE must be where God desires. — Elijah spoke
of himself as always standing before the Lord
God of Israel. He deemed himself as much a
courtier in the royal palace as Gabriel (Luke i.
19). And he could as distinctly stand before
God when hiding beside Cherith, or sheltering in
the widow's house at Zarephath, as when he stood
erect on Carmel, or listened to the voice of God
at Horeb. Wherever you go, and whatever min-
istry you are called to undertake, glory in this,
that you never go to any greater distance from
God.

If we are where God wants us to be. He will
see to the supply of our need. It is as easy for
Him to feed us by the ravens as by the widow
woman. As long as God says, Stay here, or
there, be sure that He is pledged to provide for
you. Though you resemble a lonely sentinel in
some distant post of missionary service, God will
see to you. The ravens are not less amenable to
His command than of old : and out of the stores
of widow women He is as able to supply your
need as He did Elijah's, at Zarephath.

How often God teaches best in seclusion and
solitude / It is by the murmuring brooks of na-
ture that we have our deepest lessons. It is in
the homes of the poor that we are fitted for our
greatest tasks. It is beside couches where chil-
dren suffer and die, that we receive those prep-
arations of the heart which avail us when the
bugle note summons us to some difficult post.

God leads through death to life. — It was need-
ful that the child should die, that sin might be
remembered and dealt with ; but through Death's
portal the trio entered a richer, fuller life. Fear
not that gateway !

So Ahab ivent up to eat and dr'uik. And Elijah
went up to the top of Car?neL i Kings xviii. ^f2.

SUCH differences obtain still. The children
of this world and the children of light are mani-
fest. What though the bodies of four hundred
and fifty prophets lay slain in the gorge of the
Kishon ; or that by one great act Elijah had hewn
down the upas tree, the deadly influence of which
had corrupted Palestine ; or that the long-expected
rain was in the air — yet Ahab must eat and drink.
These are the things which the children of the
world seek after. Watch and pray, lest you en-
ter into this temptation. Let appetite be kept
well in hand — your servant, not your master ; and
see to it that you are capable of such profound
and absorbing interest in the things of the King-
dom of God, as to count the gratification of phys-
ical desire unworthy to be compared with the
high delights of service, prayer, and communion
with the unseen.

Though he must have been exhausted with the
excitements and efforts of the day, Elijah must
spend the evening hour with God. Though he
knew that the rain was near, he felt that his
prayers were a needful condition for its bestow-
ment. Though any part of Carmel might have
become his oratory, he sought the lonely solitudes
of the summit with the outspread sea before him,
that his soul might hold undisturbed vigil, and
that he might see over the wide expanse of the
ocean the first tokens of the coming answer. His
attitude denoted his humility. His repeated in-
junction to the lad, his perseverance. His suc-
cess approved his faith.

Stand, O suppliant soul, on the highest point
of expectant hope; see the hurrying answer,
which was being prepared from pools and lakes
and seas, long ere thy prayer began. "Before
they call, I will answer."

73

Behold, an a?igel touched him.

I Kings xix. j".

IN all probability the angels often touch us
when danger is near, threatening our health and
life, or when foul fiends step up to us with hid-
eous temptation. They find us out, especially
when, like Elijah, we are alone and depressed ;
when nervous depression has crept about our
hearts; when we seem to have failed in the con-
flict against evil and long for death to end our
long and weary strife. It was the lament of a
holy soul on the verge of eternity, that he had
made so little of the ministry of God's holy and
tender angels.

It was very gracious for God to deal thus with
His servant. We might have expected rebuke or
remonstrance, chiding or chastisement; but we
would hardly have expected such loving, gentle
treatment as this. Is this the man who defied
Ahab and all his priests? He is as frail and im-
potent as any ! Nay, but God looked beneath
the surface depression, and detected the strong
fountains of courage and devotion that lay be-
neath, only capable of being called again into in-
tense manifestation. He knew His servant's
frame, and recognized that he was dust. He
knew how to distinguish between the passing
overstrain of the body and the heroic temper of
the spirit. So, He understands us in our fits of
depression and despair.

Whenever these angel-fingers touch you, whether
directly or through the medium of loving mortal
hands, you will always find the cake and the cruse
of water. God never awakens to disappoint. It
is an infinite pleasure to Him to awaken His loved
ones to good things, which they had neither
asked nor thought. Will not dying be something
like this ! The angel of life will touch us, and
we shall awake to see what love has prepared.

74

As thy servant was busy here and there ^ he was
gone. I Kings XX. 40.

THIS was likely enough to happen on a bat-
tlefield. It would not be possible to hold your
prisoner, and to busy yourself about other things
at the same time. This man, in the prophet's
parable, made a great mistake to concern himself
about a number of trifles, when so serious a mat-
ter as his own life depended on giving all his at-
tention to the custodianship of the prisoner en-
trusted to his care. But is it not thus that men
miss the main end of life?

Busy here a?id there aiid life is gone. — Many
spend their days in mere trivialities. Like chil-
dren they dig in the sand ; like the butterfly they
flit from flower to flower. A round of visits, a
few novels, a good many hours of light gaiety;
vanity, fashion, and amusement; these fill their
hours, the days flash by, and life is gone. They
have nothing to show for it.

Busy here and there ^ and the chance of saving
others is gofte. — Lives touch lives, for the chief
purpose that one should influence the other. But
too often we deal only with superficialities, busy-
ing ourselves in the slightest interests, but not
seeking the salvation of those with whom we as-
sociate. The dance, the game, the business rela-
tionship, monopolize our thought, and our friends
are swept from us in the eddying whirl of life's
battle, and are gone.

Busy here a?id there, and the knowledge of God
is gone. — Remember how the birds caught away
the seed of the Kingdom ; and be sure that, in
the same way, the cares and riches of this world,
and the lusts of other things may enter in, and
destroy the impression made on the heart. The
ephemeral interests of life press hard on its real
interests. Like boys, we squander in trifling the
hours given to prepare for an examination on
which all the future must turn.
75

And Ahab said to Elijah^ Hast thou found me ^
O niifie enemy ? i Kings xxi. 20.

AHAB got his garden of herbs, but he had
Elijah withal, who stood at the gate like an in-
carnate conscience. Men may get the prize on
which they have set their heart ; but if they have
obtained it wrongfully, the conscience of the
wrong done will haunt them, and take away the
pleasure on which they counted, and ultimately
bring them like a quarry to the ground.

We turn our best friends into enemies, as Ahab
did Elijah. The cloud that lights Israel is dark-
ness to Pharaoh ; the angel that protects Jerusa-
lem, slays the host of Sennacherib; the gentle
love which anoints the Saviour, instigates in
Judas a jealousy which ends in murder. The
God who shows Himself merciful to the merciful
is froward to the froward. The cause of the al-
teration is to be sought within ourselves. The
sun that melts wax hardens clay, but the differ-
ence is in the clay. To the widow of Zarephath
Elijah was an angel of light ; whilst to Ahab he
was an enemy. The difference lay in their
hearts ; the one being holy and loving, the other
dark and turbid. What you are, determines
whether Elijah will be your friend or your
enemy.

This word ** sold thyself " is very awful. It
underlies Goethe's tragedy of Faust, in which
the soul sells itself to the devil for so many years
of worldly pleasure. A few promises which are
never kept ; a mirage that is dissipated in thin
air when we approach it; a bribe of gold or
silver that burns the hands which receive it —
such are the price for which men sell themselves.
"They sell themselves for nought." Truly the
devil drives a hard bargain. When he gets the
soul into his power, he laughs at his former
promises, and pays as wages, death.

70

A certain man . . . smote the king of Israel be-
tivcen the joints of the harness, i Kings xxii. J4.

EVERY man we meet is clothed in armor ; in
other words, we all cover ourselves with plates on
which to receive the thrust of accusation and re-
proach. *' I only do as others." *' I do not see
any special harm in it." " My father did it be-
fore me." " I cannot help it." Such are some
of the plates in the armor of the soul ; and our
work as Christian workers becomes abortive in so
many instances, because we are content to be-
labor the plates, instead of striking home to the
one place where the armor -joints are. Successful
soul-winning depends on discovering the vulner-
able part of a man, and striking there. But all
this demands a very special discernment of spirits,
and anointing of the Holy Ghost. Only so can
we detect where best to bring about conviction,
and make men know their need of the Gospel of
God's grace. The great need of the present day
is a sharper and more searching analysis of sin.
Men need to be shown how they are violating the
Laws of God. They assent generally to the
Scriptural statements of what God requires, but
fail to realize how greatly they have come short.
You are almost sure to hit, if you begin to show
the various ways in which respectably-living peo-
ple are coming under the Divine sentence.

But several conditions must be fulfilled, (i)
Study well your own heart. (2) Be a deep stu-
dent of the biographies of Scripture. Because
every type of human character is delineated in
Holy Writ. (3) Open your heart to the Holy
Ghosty through whom alone you can discern
spirits. He is a discerner of the thoughts of the
heart, and will teach you to cut to the dividing
asunder of the soul and spirit, and of the joints
and marrow.

n

Thou man of God !

2 Kings i. g, ii, 13.

OH that thou and I might so live before God
and men, that they should recognize us as men of
God, as God's men ! See how these ungodly
captains at once recognized this, in the case of
Elijah. They fretted and chafed against his
holiness ; but they were forced to admit it. They
tried to impose their orders, or those of their
king ; but they realized that Elijah was the serv-
ant of Kim whom they set at nought, so far as
their own lives were concerned.

If we are really men of God, we shall be the
last to assume the title. Notice that Elijah puts
an if before the title with which he was saluted :
** If 1 be a man of God." Paul counted him-
self the least of all saints.

We must be of God. — All our goodness must
originate in Him. We can no more boast of
goodness than a chamber can boast of the light
which irradiates each corner of its space. The
faith that takes His grace, as well as the grace it
takes, is His. We are absolutely His debtors ;
and happy are they who love to have it so, and
lie always at the Beautiful Gate of God's heart,
expecting to receive alms at His hand.

We must be for God. — This is the only cure
for self-consciousness, for that perpetual obtrusion
of the self-life which is our bane and curse. Ask
that the Holy Spirit may fill you with so absorb-
ing a passion for the glory of Jesus, that there
may be no room to think of your own reputation
or emolument.

We must be in God, and God in us. — This is
possible, when we love perfectly. He that dwell-
eth in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him.
Oh, sea of light, may we lie spread out in thy
translucent waves, as the sponges in southern
sapphire seas, till every fibre of our being be per-
meated and infilled !

78

Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee.

2 Kivgs a. 2y 4, 6.

THRICE Elijah spoke thus to his friend and
disciple, to test him. Perseverance, tenacity of
purpose, a refusal to be content with anything
short of the best, are indispensable conditions for
the attainment of the highest possibilities of ex-
perience and service. And perpetually in our
life's discipline these words come back on us,
Tarry here ! Not that God desires us to tarry,
but because He desires each onward step to be
the choice and act of our own will.

Tarry here in Consecration. — "You have
given so much ; is it not time that you refrained
from further sacrifices? Ungird your loins, sit
down and rest, forbear from this strenuous fol-
lowing after. Spare thyself; this shall not come
to thee."

Tarry here in the Life of Prayer. — "It is
waste time to spend so much time at the foot-
stool of God. You have done more than most,
desist from further intercession and supplication."

Tarry here in the attainment of the likeness of
Christ. — " It will cost you so much, if all that is
not Chrisllike is to pass away from your life."

Such voices are perpetually speaking to us all.
And if we heed them, we are at once shut out of
that crossing the Jordan, that rapturous inter-
course with heaven, that reception of the double
portion of the Spirit, which await those who have
successfully stood the test. The law of the
Christian life is always Advance ; always leaving
that which is behind ; always reckoning that you
have not attained ; always following on to know
the Lord, growing in grace and in the knowledge
of the blessed Saviour, and saying to the Spirit of
God, as Elisha to Elijah, I will fiot leave thee.
79

Ye shall not see wind^ neither shall ye see rain ;
yet that valley shall be filled. 2 Kings Hi. jy.

THIS is God's way of fulfilling the desire of
them that fear Him. We like to see the clouds
blown forward through the sky, and hear the
moan of the rising wind ; in other words, we like
to see God's gifts on their way, or to have tlie
sensible emotion of receiving them. Sometimes
we have symptoms and signs that fill us with
rapture ; at other times, these are lacking ; and
we surrender ourselves to despair. Yet when we
see neither wind nor rain, God may be most
mightily at work.

// is so ill Church work. — How often we make
our valleys full of ditches ! Our machinery is
complicated and perfect ; we have spread neither
pains nor care. Then we ardently desire the
signs of a powerful revival, and break our hearts
if they are not apparent ; while, all the time, if
we only knew it, the Divine blessing is welling
up in the ditches, doing more than would be the
case if our highest wishes were gratified. Here
and there tears are falling silently, hearts are
being cleansed, lives are becoming yielded to
God.

// is so in Christian experience. — We expect to
have our Pentecost as the early Church received
hers. We desire to see wind and rain, and to
know that God is baptizing us ; but this is not
granted. There is no footfall of hurrying clouds,
no coronet of flame, no gift of tongues. But,
deep down, the ditches are being filled up,
yearnings are being satisfied, the capacity for God
within us is being met, though it grows apace.
God be praised that the success of His work is
not gauged by outward signs !

A well may be filled as completely by the
percolation of water, a drop at a time, as by turn-
ing a river into it.

80

And the oil stayed.

2 Kings iv. 6.

WHAT a sorrowful confession ! There was no
reason why it should stay. There was as much
oil as ever, and the power which had made so
much could have gone on without limit or ex-
haustion. The only reason for the ceasing of
the oil was in the failure of the vessels. The
widow and her sons had secured only a limited
number of vessels, and therefore there was only a
limited supply of the precious oil.

This is why so many of God V promises are
unfulfilled in your experience. — In former days
you kept claiming their fulfillment ; frequently
you brought God's promises to Him and said,
*' Do as Thou hast said." Vessel after vessel of
need was brought empty and taken away full.
But of late years you have refrained, you have
rested on your oars, you have ceased to bring the
vessels of your need. Hence the dwindling
supply.

This is why your life is not so productive of
blessing as it ?night be. — You do not bring vessels
enough. You think that God has wrought as
much through you as He can or will. You do
not expect Him to fill the latter years of your life
as He did the former. You can trust Him for
two sermons a week, but not the five or six.

This is why the blessing of a revival stays in
its course. — As long as the missioner remains
with us, we can look for the continuance of bless-
ing. But after awhile we say. Let the services
stop; they have run their course, and fulfilled
their end. And forthwith the blessing stops in
mid-flow. Let us go on pleading with the un-
saved, and bringing the empty vessels of our poor
effort for God to fill them up to the full measure
of their capacity.

81

Like unto the flesh of a little child.

2 Kings V. 14.

IS there any fabric woven on the loom of time
to be compared in perfect beauty to the flesh of a
little child, on which, as yet, no scar or blemish
can be traced ? So sweet, so pure, so clean. It
was a wonderful combination, that the strong
muscles and make of the mighty man of war
should blend with the flesh of a child. But this
may be ours also, if we will let the hand of Jesus
pass over our leprous-smitten souls. At this
moment, if you let Him, He will touch you and
say, "Be clean," and immediately the leprosy
will depart, and you will return to the days of
your youth — not forgiven only, but cleansed —
not pardoned only, but clad in the beauty of the
Lord your God, which He will put on you.

We do not count a little child to be free from
the taint of sin. It is conceived in sin, and
inherits the evil tendencies of our fallen race.
Its innocence of evil is not holiness. Jesus gives
us more than innocence. He makes us pure and
holy. But there are other childlike qualities
which our Saviour gives. The humility of a little
child, who is unconscious of itself, and who is not
perpetually looking for admiration. The unselfish-
ness of a little child, who seeks its companion to
share its luxuries and games. The tnist of a
little child, which so naturally clings to a strong
and loving heart, willing to follow anywhere, to
believe in anything. The love of a little child,
who responds to every endearment with sunny
laughter and soft caresses.

There is a great difference between childish and
childlike. The former is put away, as we grow
up into Christ : the latter we grow into, as we
become more like our Lord. The oldest angels
are the youngest : the ripest saints are the most
childlike.

82

Behold the mou72tain was full of horses and char-
iots of fire round about Klisha. 2 Kings vi. ij.

SO it is with each of God's saints. We can-
not see, because of the imperfection of mortal
vision, the harnessed squadrons of fire and light ;
but the Angel of the Lord encampeth round about
them that fear Him, and delivereth them. If
our eyes were opened, we should see the angel-
hosts as an encircling fence of fire ; but whether
we see them or not, they are certainly there.

God is between us and temptation. — However
strong the foe, God is stronger. However swift
the descending blow, God is swifter to catch and
ward off. However weak we are, through long
habits of yielding, God is greater than our hearts,
and can keep in perfect peace. "Trust ye in
the Lord forever ; for in the Lord Jehovah is the
Rock of Ages."

God is between tis and the hate of ma7i. — Dare
to believe that there is an invisible wall of pro-
tection between you and all that men devise
against you. What though the heathen rage, and
the people imagine a vain thing ! No weapon
that is formed against you shall prosper, and
every tongue that shall rise in judgment shall be
condemned.

God is between you and the deluge of care. —
What thousands are beset with that dark spectre !
They have no rest or peace either day or night,
saying, "Where will the next rent, the next
meal, come from?" How different the life of
birds, and flowers, of children, of Jesus, and all
holy souls. Oh, rest in the Lord, and put Him
between you and black care.

God is between you and the pursuit of your
past. — He is your reward ; and as He intercepted
the pursuit of Pharaoh, so He stands at Calvary
between your past and you. The assay er of ret-
ribution is arrested by that Divine Victim — what
more can we ask !

83

This day is a day of good tidings.

2 Kings vii. g.

IT was indeed. The enemy that had so long
hemmed them in had dispersed, leaving a great
spoil behind. The famine which had driven the
people to awful straits was at an end, and there
was now plenty of everything. It was inhuman
for these four lepers to be content with eating
and drinking, and sharing out the spoil, when
hard by a city was in agony. Common humanity
bade them give information of what had hap-
pened.

Let us take care lest some mischief befall us, if
we withhold the blessed Gospel from a dying
world. We know that Jesus has died and risen
again, and that His unsearchable riches wait for
appropriation. We have availed ourselves of the
offer ; but let us see to it that so far as we can,
we are making known that the wine and milk
may be obtained without money and without price.

Mischief always overtakes a selfish policy ;
whereas those who dare to share with others what
they have received, not only keep what they
have, but find the fragments enough for many
days afterward.

Let us tell men that the Saviour has overcome
our foes, and has opened the kingdom of heaven
to all who believe. Let us speak from a full
heart of all that He has proved to be. Let us in-
vite men to share with us the grace which hath
neither shore nor bound.

One ounce of testimony is worth a ton weight
of argument, and overpowers all objection. The
Lord, on whom the king leaned, derided the pos-
sibility of the prophet's prediction ; and no
doubt had plenty of adherents. But the leper's
report swept all His words to the winds. They
had known, tasted, and handled. Let us remem-
ber that we are called to be witnesses of what
God hath done for us.

84

And the Man of God wept.

2 Kings viii. ii.

ELISHA foresaw all the evil that Hazael would
inflict on Israel, and it moved him to tears.
Though he was a strong man, able to move king-
doms by his message and prayer, yet he was of a
tender and compassionate disposition. This was
he who one moment upbraided the king of Israel
for his crimes, and the next called for a minstrel
to calm his perturbed spirit with strains of music.
The men that can move others are themselves
very susceptible and easily moved.

The nearer we live to God, the more we de-
serve to be known as men and women of God,
the more will our tears flow for the slain of the
daughters of our people. Consider the ravages
that drink, and impurity, and gambling, are
making among our people ; enumerate the homes
that are desolate, the young life that is wrecked
as it is leaving the harbor, the awful dishonor
done to woman ; and surely there must come
times when tears well up for very humanity's
sake, to say nothing of the pity which they ac-
quire who look at things from God's standpoint.

Jesus beheld the city and wept over it. Give
us this day, O Son of Man, Thy compassion. Thy
love. Thy tears, that we may speak of Thy grace
graciously, of Thy love tenderly, and even of Thy
judgments with brimming eyes.

A broken heart, a fount of tears :
Ask, and it shall not be denied.

Wouldst thou avert such issues ; begin with
the cradled babes of your homes. Win them for
God ; teach them how to curb passion and sub-
due themselves. Tenderness and wisdom may
arrest the making of Ben-hadads.
85

Is it peace ^ Jehu f And he answered. What
peace ? 2 Kings ix. 22.

WE all want peace. Of every telegraph mes-
senger, as he puts the buff-colored envelope into
our hands, we ask almost instinctively, Is it
peace? If there is a rumor of war, a depression
in trade, a bad harvest, a sudden calamity in our
neighborhood, we instantly consider the effect it
may have on the tranquillity and prosperity of our
life.

By peace wc too often mean the absence of the
disagreeable, the unbroken routine of outward
prosperity, the serene passage of the years : not
always eager for anything deeper. And if other
and profounder questions intrude themselves, we
instantly stifle or evade them. Like Herod, we
shut up the Baptist in the dungeon. Like the Ro-
man general, we make a desert and call it peace.
Men will flee from a Gospel ministry which pur-
sues them into close quarters, and arouses un-
welcome questions that break the peace.

There cannot be true peace so long as we per-
mit the infidelities and charms of some Jezebel of
the soul-life to attract and affect us. Jezebel may
stand for the painted world, with its wiles and
snares, or for the flesh, or for some unholy asso-
ciation of the past life, like that which clung to
Augustine. But there must be no quarter given
to the unhallowed rival of our Lord. Whatever
its charms, it must be flung out of the window
before we can be at peace.

" Then, and not till then, we shall see Thee as Thou art ;
Then, and not till then, in Thy glory bear a part ;
Then, and not till then, Thou wilt satisfy each heart."

If you are entirely surrendered to the Lord,
"the peace of God, which passeth all under-
standing, shall guard your hearts and your
thoughts in Christ Jesus."
86

Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord
God of Israel. 2 Kings x. j/.

JEHU was the Cromwell of his time. He
swept away the symbols of idolatry with ruthless
destruction. Nothing could withstand his icono-
clastic enthusiasm. But he failed to keep his
own heart, and therefore his dynasty lasted for
but one generation. It is a deep lesson for us
all.

We may keep other people's vineyards, and neg-
lect our own. We may give good advice to our
friends, but fall into the very faults against which
we warn them. We may pose as infallible guides,
but fall into the crevasses and precipices from
which we had carefully warned our companions.
Jehu avenged the idolatries of Ahab, but he de-
parted not from Jeroboam's calves.

Before you rebuke another, be sure that you
are free from the faults that you detect in him.
When you hear of the failings of some erring
brother, ask yourself whether you are perfectly
free from them. And never attempt to cast out
the mote from your neighbor's eye till you are
sure that the beam has been taken from your
own.

Take heed to your heart. Its complexion
colors all the issues of life. Do not be content to
be strong against evil ; be eagerly ambitious of
good. It is easier to be vehement against the
abominations of others than to judge and put
away your own secret sins. But while we keep
our heart with all diligence, we cannot afford to
be independent of the keeping power of God.
We must yield ourselves to Him, reserving noth-
ing. The King must have all. The light of His
face must fill every nook and corner of the soul.
And every power that opposes itself to His do-
minion, must be dragged beyond the barriers
and ruthlessly slain.

•87

They made him kingy and anointed him.

2 Kings xi. 12.

THIS dexterous overthrow of Athaliah by the
bringing of the youthful king, who had been hid-
den in the secret chambers of the Temple, ac-
commodates itself so obviously to a reference to
the inner life, that we must be pardoned for
making it.

Is not the spiritual condition of too many chil-
dren of God represented by the condition of the
Temple, during theearly years of the life of Joash?
The king was within its precincts, the rightful
heir of the crown and defender of the worship
of Jehovah : but, as a matter of fact, the crown
was on the head of the usurper Athaliah, who
was exercising a cruel and sanguinary tyranny.
The king was limited to a chamber, and the ma-
jority of the priests, with all the people, had not
even heard of his existence. So, unless we are
reprobates, Jesus is within the spirit, which has
been regenerated by the Holy Ghost ; but in too
many cases He is limited to a very small corner
of our nature, and exercises but a limited power
over our life.

There needs to be an anointing, an enthroning,
a determination that He shall exercise His power
over the entire Temple of our Being ; the spirit^
which stands for the Holy of Holies ; the soul^
for the Holy Place ; the body^ for the outer
court.

Holiness or Sanctification is not a quality or
attribute which can be attributed to us apart from
the indwelling of the Holy One. If we would
be holy, we must be indwelt by Him who is holy.
If we would have holiness, we must be infilled by
the Holy One. But there must be no limiting of
His power, no barrier to His control, no veiling
or curtaining of His light. The veil, if such there
be, must be rent in twain from the top to the bot-
tom.

88

The money that cometh into any man^s heart to
bring into the house of the Lord. 2 Kings xii. 4.

THE margin suggests that the thought of giv-
ing for God's house would ascend in a man's
heart, till it became the royal and predominant
thought, swaying the whole man to obedience.
It is a beautiful conception !

For the reconstruction of the Temple there
were two classes of revenue : the tribute money
which each Israelite was bound to give, and the
money which a man might feel prompted to give.
Surely the latter was the more precious in the eye
of God.

Does it ever come into your heart to bring some
money into the house of God ? Perhaps the sug-
gestion comes, but you put it away, and refuse to
consider it. The thought begins to ascend in
your heart, but you thrust it down and back, say-
ing. Why should I part with what has cost me so
much to get ! Beware of stifling these generous
promptings. To yield to them would bring un-
told blessing into heart and life. Besides, the
money is only yours as a stewardship; and the
thought to give it to God is only the Master's re-
quest for His own.

The great mistake with us all is, that we do
not hold all our property at God's disposal, seek-
ing His directions for its administration; and
that we forget how freely we have received that
we may resemble our Father in heaven, and freely
give. Too many, alas ! are anxious to hoard up
and keep for themselves that which God has given
them, instead of counting themselves and all they
have as purchased property, and using all things
as His representatives and trustees. Let us make
a complete surrender to our Lord, and from the
heart sing.

Take my silver and my gold,
Not a mite would I withhold.

He smote thrice and stayed.

2 Kitjgs xiii. i8.

A STRIKING spectacle. The dying prophet,
with his thin hands on the muscular hands of the
young king, as he shoots his arrow through the
eastern window; the exhortation to smite the re-
maining arrows on the ground ; the bitter chiding
that the king had struck thrice only, instead of
five or six times ! What lessons are here ? The
Lord Jesus put His hands upon ours. Here is
the reverse to the incident referred to. Ours are
weak. His are strong; ours would miss the mark.
His will direct the arrows, if only we will allow
Him, with unerring precision. We shoot, but
the Lord directs the arrow's flight to the heart of
His foes.

Our success is commensurate with our faith.
If we strike but thrice, we conquer but thrice.
If we strike seven times, we attain a perfect vic-
tory over the adversary. Is not this the cause of
comparative failure in Gospel effort? Souls are
not saved because we do not expect them to be
saved. A few are saved, because we only believe
for a few. It is one of the most radical laws in
the universe of God, and one which our Lord re-
peatedly emphasized, that our faith determines
the less or more in our own growth, and in the
victories we win for Christ. Do not stay, O soul-
winner, but smite again and yet again in the se-
cret of thy chamber, that thou mayest smite Satan,
and compel him to acknowledge thy mite.

Let us not stay, though the energy of earlier
days may be ebbing fast. The sanctified spirit
waxes only stronger and more heroic, as Elisha's
and Paul's did, amid the decay of mortal power.
The Lord will say to us, as He did to Paul, "My
grace is sufficient for thee : for my strength is
made perfect in weakness."

90

Every man shall be put to death for his own sin,

2 Kings xiv. 6.

SO ran the law of Moses. It forbade the im-
position of punishment on the relatives of the
wrong-doer, but it had no mercy on him. ** The
soul that sinneth, it shall die," was the succinct
and conclusive verdict of the older law, in this
reflecting the spirit and letter of one yet older,
which ran, "The day that thou eatest thereof,
thou shalt surely die."

First, we were dead in our sins. — Eph. ii. 5
puts this beyond all doubt. In the sight of God,
all who walk according to the course of this world,
and obey the prince that now worketh in the
children of this world, are dead in trespasses and
sins. However much they may be alive as to
their souls, they are dead as to their spirits, en-
tirely destitute of the life of God.

Seco?id, we have died for our sins. — 2 Cor. v.
14, 15 (r. v.) establishes this fact, and shows
that in Jesus, we who believe in Him, are reck-
oned to have died in Him when He bore our sins
in His own body on the tree. In God's estimate.
His death is imputed to us ; so that we are reck-
oned as having satisfied, in Jesus, the demands
of a broken law. It has no more to ask.

Third, we must die to our sin. — Rom. vi. 11.
Reckon that you have died, and whenever sin
arises, to menace or allure you, point back to the
grave, and argue that since you died in Christ,
you have passed altogether beyond its jurisdiction,
for you have yielded your members as weapons
of righteousness unto God. And having been
crucified with Christ, you now no longer live,
but Christ liveth in you. Let it become your
daily habit to place the grave of Jesus between
yourself and all allurements of the world, the
flesh, and the devil.

91

The sins of Jeroboam, the so ft of Nebat, who
made Israel to sin. a Kings xv. g, iS, 24, 28.

THIS chapter anticipates the final overthrow
of the kingdom of the tribes. It describes the
corruption and disorganization of the people
which made them the easy prey of Assyria. One
puppet-king after another was set upon the throne
to fall after a brief space of rule, and four times
over it is said that they followed in the steps of
Jeroboam, *' who made Israel to sin." The seed
sown two hundred years before had at last come
to maturity, issuing in the ruin of the nation.
What a comment on the inspired words, " Sin,
when it is finished, bringeth forth death."

Twelve times in the story of the kingdom of
Israel, we are told that Jeroboam, the son of
Nebat, made Israel to sin. The institution of
the calves on his part seemed to be a piece of
political wisdom, but it was an infraction of the
Divine law ; and what is morally wrong can
never be politically right. The house cannot
stand unless the foundation can bear the test of
the Divine plummet. The kingdom of Israel
fell, to prove to all after-time that the disregard
of God's law is a foundation of sand, which can
never resist the test of time.

Why is Jeroboam so frequently called "the
son of Nebat " ? Why should the father be for-
ever pilloried with the son, except that he was in
some way responsible for, and implicated in, his
sins? There was a time when perhaps Nebat
might have restrained the growing boy, or led
him to the true worship of God ; or perhaps his
parental influence and example were deadly in
their effect. How important that parents should
leave no stone unturned to promote the godliness
of their children, bringing them up in the nurture
and admonition of the Lord.

92

King Ahaz sent to Urijah the fashion of the altar
and the pattern of it. 2 Kings xvi. 10.

THE fashion of this world passeth away like a
fleeting dream; or like the panorama of clouds
that constitutes a pavilion of the setting sun, but
which, whilst we gaze, tumbles into a mass of red
ruin. And yet we are always so prone to imitate
King Ahaz, and visit Damascus with the inten-
tion of procuring the latest design, and introduc-
ing it, even into the service of the sanctuary.

Man naturally imitates. He must get the pat-
tern of his work from above, or beneath ; from
God or the devil : hence the repeated injunction
to us all, to make all things after the pattern
shown on the mount. If we would be rid of the
influence of worldly fashion, we must conform
ourselves to the heavenly and divine. The pat-
tern of the Body of Christ, of the position of
each individual believer among its members, and
of the work which each should accomplish, was
fixed before the worlds were made. The best
cure for worldliness is not unworldliness, but
other-worldliness. The best way of resisting tne
trend of people around us is to cultivate the
speech, thought, and behavior of that celestial
world to which we are bound by the most sacred
ties, and whither we are travelling at every heart-
throb.

This introduction of the altar of a heathen
shrine into the holy temple of Jerusalem, reminds
us of the many rites in modern religious observ-
ances which have been borrowed from paganism,
and warns us that the Church has no right to go
to the world for its methods and principles. Let
the world do as it may in its discussions about
truth, its efforts to attract attention, and its or-
ganizations ; our course is clear, not to build
altars after its fashion, nor model our life on its
maxims.

93

These nations feared the Lord, and served their
graven images. 2 Kings xvii. 41.

IT was a curious mixture. These people had
come from Babylon, Hamath, and Sepharvaim,
and were settled in the land from which Israel
was deported. In their desire to propitiate the
God of the country, they added His worship to
that of their own gods (ver. 32), though they
did not really fear Him (ver. 34). There was an
outward recognition of the God of Israel, which
was worse than useless. Are you sure this is not
a true description of your own position? You
pay an outward deference to God by attending
His house, and acknowledging His day, whilst
you are really prostrating yourself before other
shrines. The one originates in a superstitious
fear, a desire to stand well with your fellows ;
but it is in the direction of the other that your
heart really goes. You come as His people
come, sit as His people sit, kneel as His people
kneel ; but your heart is far apart, and you only
do as you do that you may follow your own evil
ways with less fear of discovery.

With all of us there is too much of this double
worship; but let it be clearly understood that it is
only apparent, not real. No man ever really
serves two masters, or worships two gods. What-
ever conflicts with God in heart or life is our
chosen god. Whatever appears to share our
heart with God really holds our heart. God will
never be in competition with another. He must
either be all or none.

The soul that endeavors to divide its service be-
tween Jehovah on the first day, and its graven
images all the other days of the week, might as
well discontinue its religious observances, for they
count for nothing: except to blind it to its true
condition.

94

Now on whom dost thou trust ?

2 Kings xviii. 20.

IT was no small thing for Hezekiah to rebel
against the proud King of Assyria. Hamath and
Arpad, Samaria and Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivah,
reduced to heaps of stones, were sufficient proofs
of the might of his ruthless soldiers. How
could Jerusalem hope to withstand ? Rabshakeh
could not comprehend the secret source of
Hezekiah's confidence. It was of no use for
him to turn to Egypt. Pharaoh was a bruised
reed. And as for Jehovah ! Was there any
likelihood that He could do for Israel more than
the gods of the other nations had done for them ?
Not infrequently does the puzzled world ask the
Church, " In whom dost thou trust? "

Our life must to a large extent be a mystery,
our peace pass understanding, and our motives
be hidden. The sources of our supply, the
ground of our confidence, the reasons for our
actions, must evade the most searching scrutiny
of those who stand outside the charmed circle of
the face of God ; as it is written, " Eye hath not
seen, nor ear heard . . . what God hath pre-
pared."

We all ought to have the secrets which the
world cannot penetrate. Doubt your religion if
it all lies on the surface, and if men are able to
calculate to a nicety the considerations by which
you are actuated. We must be prepared to be
misunderstood and criticised, because our be-
havior is determined by facts which the princes
of this world know not. We do not look up to
the hills, because we look beyond them to God ;
we do not trust in silver or gold, or human re-
source, because God is our confidence. We can-
not but seem eccentric to this world, because we
have found another centre, and are concentric
with the Eternal Throne.

95

And Hezekiah spread it before the Lord.

2 Kings xix. 14.

AMID the panic that reigned in Jerusalem, the
king and the prophet alone kept level heads, for
they alone had quiet, trustful hearts. We hardly
realize the crisis unless we compare it with the
march of 200,000 Kurds or Turkish soldiers upon
some peaceful Armenian community. Israel had
no earthly allies. Her only reinforcements could
reach her from heaven, and it was the care of
these two saintly men to implicate their cause
with that of the living God (ver. 4). This is
the faith that overcomes the world, which real-
izes that God lives here and now in our home and
life and circumstances. His cause is implicated
in our deliverance ; His name will be disgraced
if we are overwhelmed, and honored, if pre-
served. He is our Judge, Lawgiver and King,
and is therefore bound by the most solemn obli-
gations to save us, or His name will be tarnished.

When therefore letters come to you, anonymous
or otherwise, full of bitter reproach ; when un-
kind and malignant stories are set on foot with
respect to you ; when all hope from man has
perished, then take your complaint — the letter,
the article, the speech, the rumor — and lay it
before God. Let your requests be made known
unto Him. Tell Him how absolutely you trust.
Then malice and fear will pass from your heart,
whilst peace and love will take their place : and
presently there will come a swift message of com-
fort, like that which Isaiah, the son of Amoz,
sent to Hezekiah, saying on the behalf of God,
<'That which thou hast prayed to Me, I have
heard."

God knew the contents of the missive before
you did ; but He likes to read it again in the
company of His child !

Let the shadoiv return backward ten degrees.

2 Kings XX. lo.

IT is impossible for us to understand how this
could be. The shadow of the declining day
waxes ever longer, and only a miracle could
change its appearance on the dial. It may sug-
gest some significant thoughts about shadows that
may still go back.

The shadow of a wasted life. — Of course, there
is a sense in which the wasted years will never
come again ; they have passed beyond recall.
But the shadow may go back on the dial of our
life when we truly repent, and turn again to God,
for He hath promised : "I will never leave thee,
neither forsake thee." And "I will give back
the years that the canker worm and caterpillar
have eaten."

The shadow of happier days. — These seem to
have gone. For long you have noticed the grow-
ing twilight, and it has seemed impossible ever
again to have the lightsomeness and spring of
one or two decades back. But be of good cheer,
for when a man comes into that fellowship with
God which sorrow and temptation teach, when
with growing years he attains added grace, we
are told that he shall return to the days of his
youth.

The shadow of early affection. — Have you lost
loved ones, so that your life is like a house the
windows of which, one after another, have become
shuttered and dark? But love is not forfeited
forever. Those who forsake all for Christ's sake
shall get all back again in Him. His love com-
prehends all human love. The relationships of
His kingdom surpass in tenderness and tenacity
tliose of the warmest earthly ties. Thy brother
shall rise again, and thou shalt hear him call thy
name, and shalt sit with him in the Home of
Life.

97

And his mother's name was Hephzi-bah.

2 Kings xxi. i.

HEPHZI-BAH means, " My delight is in her"
(Isa. Ixii. 4). How strange, supposing that her
name was any indication of her character, that
such a woman should have borne such a son ; for
" Manasseh did wickedly above all the Amorites
did which were before him." A godly ancestry,
however, does not guarantee a holy seed. Heze-
kiahs and Hephzi-bahs may be the parents of
Manassehs. That this may not be so : —

Let us guard against the inconsistencies of our
private life. — The child of religious parents be-
comes habituated to their use of expressions in
public which betoken the highest degree of holi-
ness, and is therefore quicker to notice any in-
consistency in temper or walk. Is there not a
subtle temptation also for those who work much
for God in public to feel that a certain laxity is
permissible in the home? Will not late after-
meetings at night compensate for indolence in
the morning, and will not protracted services be
the equivalent for private prayer? May not irri-
tability to servants or children be accounted for
by the overstrain of our great work? Hence, in-
consistency and failure to realize our lofty aims,
which are quickly noticed, beget distaste for our
religion.

Let us guard against absorption in public re-
ligious duty to the neglect of the home. — Does it
never happen that the children of religious par-
ents are put to bed by nurses who are heedless of
their prayers, because their mothers have under-
taken a mission ? Do not boys sometimes grow
up without the correcting influence of the father's
character, because he, good man, is so taken up
with committees?

Let us guard against an austerity of manner ^
which preve7its us being the companions , play fel-
lows ^ and associates of our children.
98

Thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace.

2 Kings xxii. 20.

AS a matter of fact, Josiah's death was not a
peaceful one. He persisted in going into conflict
with Pharaoh-necho, king of Egypt, against the
latter's earnest remonstrance (see 2 Chron. xxxv.
20-22); and, in consequence of his hardihood,
met his death. His servants carried him in a
chariot dead from Megiddo (ch. xxiii. 30). Is
there, then, any real contradiction between the
prophet's prediction and this sad event?

Certainly not ! The one tells us what God was
prepared to do for His servant; the other what
he brought on himself by his own folly. There
are many instances of this change of purpose in
the Word of God. One of them is known as
*' His breach of promise," or ''altering of pur-
pose" (Num. xiv. 34, inarg.). He would have
saved His people from the forty years' wander-
ing in the wilderness, but they made Him to
serve with their sins and wearied Him with their
iniquities. He would have gathered Jerusalem
as a hen gathers her brood, but she would not.

Let us beware lest, a promise being left us, we
should seem to come short of it ; lest there be in
any of us an evil heart of unbelief in departing
from the living God, and frustrating some blessed
purpose of His heart. " Eye hath not seen, nor
ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of
man the things which God hath prepared for
them that love Him"; but we may limit the
Holy One of Israel, and so restrain Him by our
unbelief as to stay the mighty works which are
in His plan for us. He may desire for us a pros-
perous life and a peaceful death ; but we may
close our dying eyes amid disaster and defeat,
because we willfully chose our own way.

99

Like wito Josiah was there no king before him.

2 Kings xxiii. 2j.

THIS chapter is a marvellous record of cleans-
ing and purging. We are led from one item to
another of drastic reform. Nothing was spared
that savored of idolatry. Priests and altars,
buildings and groves, came under the searching
scrutiny of this true-hearted monarch; and, as
the result, it was possible to keep such a Passover
as had not been observed during the days of the
judges or the kings (ver. 22).

How much our enjoyment of the solemn feast
depends upon our previous efforts to put away
from our lives all that is inconsistent with the law
of God. We hardly realize how insidiously evils
creep in. Before we are aware, we have fallen
beneath God's ideal, and adopted the customs of
our neighbors, or of those with whom we come
into daily contact. All such declension hinders
our joy in keeping the Passover. It is needful,
therefore, that there should be times when we
turn to God with fresh devotion, and in the light
of His holy truth pass the various departments of
our life under review, testing everything by the
Book of the Law. In Josiah's case, the sacred
volume was recovered from long neglect ; in our
case it needs to be re-read in the light of higher
resolves. This would be like a new discovery.
Our ultimate rule must always be the will of
God, appreciated with growing clearness, and
used as a standard by which to judge the habits
and tenets of our life. We read the Bible for
purposes of a truer knowledge of God and His
ways, and for spiritual quickening; but let us
also use it more frequently as the bath of the
spirit. Let us bathe in it. Let us revel in it as
the grimy children of the slums in the laughing
wavelets of river and sea.

100

He carried out thence all the treasures of the
House of the Lord. 2 Kings xxiv. ij.

AMONGST these departed treasures must have
been much of the sacred furniture of the Temple,
and the holy vessels ; because, in the days of
Belshazzar, we find them brought out to grace
the royal banquet. Belshazzar drank wine from
them with his lords, wives, and concubines,
whilst they praised the gods of Babylon, who
had given them victory over their foes. Amongst
the rest was the golden candlestick, whose flame
afterward illuminated the inscription of doom,
written by God's hand upon the palace wall. By
the command of Cyrus these precious vessels
were finally restored (Ezra v. 14), and carried
back to Jerusalem, by a faithful band of priests

(viii. 33)-

The whole story of the captivity is full of sol-
emn lessons. — The Church of God must make her
choice between one of two courses : either she
must keep from all entangling alliances, and from
vieing for temporal power; or she must face the
liability of being brought under the power with
which she would fain assimilate. Israel wanted
to be as the other nations around her, imitating
their organization, and allying herself now with
one, and then with another ; in consequence she
was swept into captivity to the very nation whose
fashions she most affected (Isa. xxxviii.).

Have we never tasted the bitters of captivity ?
— Borne away from our happy early homes to live
among strangers, set to repugnant tasks, removed
from all that made life worth living, we have
known the exile's lot. Alas ! if it be so ; yet,
even in our captivity, where the Lord's song is
silenced, and our harps hang from the willows,
if we repent, and put away our sins, and turn
again to the Lord, He will not only have mercy,
but abundantly pardon, and bring us again that
we may be as we were in times past.
101

Every day a portion^ all the days of his life.

2 Kings XXV. JO (R. V.).

IS it to be supposed that the king of Babylon
took more care of Jehoiachin than God will lake
of us I Jehoiachin had resisted his suzerain, and
cost him a great expenditure of men and treas-
ure ; but nothing which had transpired in the
past hindered this provision of a daily supply.
Will God do less for you, His child ? Would it
not come as a relief if you were to be told that,
from this moment till you die, you could al-
ways have a sufficient provision of all the neces-
saries of life? But if you are a child of God,
that promise has already been made ! Do not be
anxious, but believe that God's word is at least
as sure and as efficient as man's.

The allowance was continual. — It did not be-
gin with plenty, and gradually dwindle to scraps.
The supply was maintained year after year. Will
God drop off your supplies, think you, because
He forgets, or because His power is exhausted ?
You know that each supposition is alike unten-
able. What He has done, He will do. The
storehouses of nature open to His key. His are
the cattle on a thousand hills.

Every day a portion. — Jehoiachin had not the
provisions of a year or a month put down at his
door ; but as each day broke he was sure of the
day's portion. It may be that God is dealing
thus with you. Only manna for the day : daily
strength for daily need.

All the days of His life. — Jesus is with us " all
the days"; and He is the bread of God, in
whom is every property necessary for life. All
the days are included in God's care for us, of
birth and death, of sunshine and shadow. Surely
goodness and mercy shall follow you all the days
of your life, and you shall dwell in the House of
the Lord forever.

102

Adam, Seth, Enosh.

I Chron. i. i,

THIS is an ancient graveyard. The names of
past generations who were born and died, who
loved and suffered, who stormed and fought
through the world, are engraven on these solid
slabs. But there is no inscription to record their
worth or demerit. Just names,, and nothing
more.

How strange to think that if Christ tarry, our
names will be treated with the same apathy as
these ! So far as this world is concerned, we
and all our generations shall pass away. As the
flowers of the field, so we shall perish from the
earth.

But each of these lives fulfilled a necessary
part in the progress of the race. Each was in
turn father and son ; each passed on the torch of
life ; each contributed something to the fabric of
humanity rising like a coral island from unknown
depths. The hilltops would not be possible but
for their lower courses which touch the valleys.
We could not have the somebodies without an
immense number of nobodies. The flowers of
the race were prepared for by the slow progress
of the plant through years of growth.

But each was the object of the love of God.
Each was included in the redemptive purpose of
our Lord ; each contributed some minute par-
ticle to His nature; each is living yet some-
where ; each will have to stand before the judg-
ment-bar of God ; each is predestined to live in
the unknown world that lies on the other side.
It is a stupendous thought to imagine the whole
race, rooted in Adam, like one vast far-spreading
tree. Ah, reader, be sure that thou art taken
out of the first Adam, and grafted into the second
— the Lord Jesus ; and abiding in Him, see that
thou bring forth much fruit to His glory.

103

These are the sons of Israel.

I Chron. it. i.

IT is noticeable how irrevocable the Divine
sentence is on a human life. Of Er, the grave,
impartial voice of Scripture says, he was *' wicked
in the sight of the Lord" ; of Achan, he was
the "troubler of Israel, and committed a tres-
pass in the devoted thing." These sentences are
recorded with such precision as to admit of no
dispute, no appeal ; and they sum up the life.

But was there not much else in each of these
men ? Were there not tender or chivalrous mo-
ments? Did they never shine for a moment in
some transfiguring ray ? Was all their life dyed
with these sad and sombre hues? Ah, it may
have been so — still the one thing that the Scrip-
ture tells of them is the sin in which all their life
seemed to culminate and express itself. With
unerring accuracy God can distinguish the one
act or word by which the character is revealed.
He may forgive it, but He holds it up as the
epitome or summary of what the life was.

Let us see how we live, walking before God
with reverent fear, watching and praying, be-
cause any moment may give birth to a word or
act, which may characterize our life in all com-
ing time. It must be remembered, however,
that all these things emanate from the heart.
The heart is deceitful above all things, and des-
perately wicked; but the issues of life proceed
thence : it therefore must be watched with all
diligence and care. What a man thinks, that he
is. The chance word or act is a true indication
of the inner life. Therefore it is preserved for
all aftertime by the voice of God. See that your
heart is perfect before God. There is forgive-
ness ; but there is also the unerring verdict.

104

These were the sons of David.

I C/iron. in. i.

BUT how different they were to the Son of
David ! Contrast any one of these with our
blessed Lord, and what an infinite chasm lies be-
tween them ! Solomon was the most reputable
of them, but a greater than Solomon was born in
Bethlehem, and cradled in a manger. Surely the
least earnest must be struck with the difference in
these sons, and that Son. But in this difference,
is there not the most conspicuous proof of His
miraculous conception ? Even though the story
of His wondrous birth had never been preserved
for us by the evangelists, we should have felt con-
vinced that something like it must have happened,
in virtue of which He should be the Man of men,
the one absolutely flawless and perfect flower on
the stem of humanity. With new emphasis we
read the familiar words, "The Holy Ghost shall
come upon thee, and the power of the Highest
shall overshadow thee ; therefore that Holy thing
which shall be born of thee shall be called the
Son of God."

We, too, who have been born once, need to be
born again. To be born of a David does not
ensure perfectness of heart and life. Though
born of parents, who were after God's own heart
and are passed into the skies, we need to be born
again, or we may repeat the sins of an Ammon,
an Adonijah, an Absalom. It is a serious ques-
tion to ask whether, like David, we have called
his greater Son our Lord. This is the true mark
of the new birth. Those who are born of the
Holy Ghost call Jesus Lord, and none other.
The recognition of the supreme lordship of Jesus
is imperative for the peace and right ordering of
the heart and life. So we pass to our true stature
in Jesus.

105

Because I hare him with sorrow.

I Chron. iv. g.

THE products of sorrow have been the rarest
gifts to mankind. The books, hymns, discover-
ies, deeds, to which men and women have been
urged by sorrow, or which have been born into
the world amid heart-rending soul-travail, are
those which will never be allowed to die, because
perennial sources of inspiration and comfort. It
was thus with the child of whom we have this
brief record. We might becomingly weave the
four petitions of the prayer of Jabez into the sup-
plications of each new morning hour.

To be blessed iitdeed. — Not the lower springs
only, but the upper ones also ; not life alone,
but life more abundantly; not those blessings
only which pertain to the body or worldly cir-
cumstance, but those spiritual ones of the heaven-
lies, that are the best donation man can receive
or God bestow.

A larger coast. — There is a godly ambition
which may be reverently cherished for wider in-
fluence over men, not for its own sake, but for
the Master's. You may feel that you have ful-
filled the measure of your present possibilities,
but have unexhausted powers and talents. Tell
God so, and ask for a wider extent of territory to
bring under cultivation for Him.

Thine hand with me. — The father puts his
hand on the boy's hand as he draws back the
bowstring, strengthening the thin. arms of youth.
So will the mighty God of Jacob do for you.

Keep me from evil. — You cannot keep your
heart-door shut when a tumult of temptation or
care assaults it from without ; but God's peace
and grace, like angel sentries, can avail you.
Though tempted, you may be kept in the tempta-
tion and delivered from the evil. Thus your
spirit, and the Huly Spirit, shall be ungrieved.
106

They cried to God in the battle ^ and He was en-
treated of them. I Chron. V. 20.

WHETHER they cried to God before they
went into the battle we are not told ; but prob-
ably they did, because we read that the war was
of God, and it is hardly likely that they would
have prayed to Him in the midst of the fight,
when the foemen's blows fell like hail on their
armor, if they had not prayed before they entered
the bloody fray. Men often excuse themselves
for neglecting their morning devotions by saying
that they will surely look to God, as they may re-
quire His gracious help, in the midst of the day's
temptations and needs ; but, as a matter of fact,
when once they are plunged into its war they for-
get to look up. You must direct your prayer in
the morning, and look up whilst the early shad-
ows lie long on the dewy grass, if you would
keep looking off to Jesus, amid the din of the
fight.

It is very lovely to contract and preserve this
habit of looking upward, and crying to God in
the battle. When our feet are slipping, when the
foe seems about to overmaster, when heart and
flesh fail — how refreshing and strengthening to
fling one eager look or cry to heaven, and say,
" I am thine, save me." There can be no doubt
as to the issue. God is always intreated of those
who put their trust in Him. Sooner might a
mother forget her sucking child than God be un-
mindful of one sigh, or tear, or upward glancing
look from His own. Oh, child of God, put thou
thy trust in God, and go through this tempestu-
ous world as one who is confident of a Divine
Ally. At any moment He will ride on the
heavens to thy help. "Let us therefore come
boldly unto the throne of grace that we may ob-
tain mercy, and find grace to help in time of
need."

107

Herman the singer.

I Chron. vi. jj.

THIS is a very brief record to put on a man's
grave, but a very expressive one. To decipher
that epitaph about Herman is to learn a good
deal about him. From this clue we might almost
construct his entire personality and character.
And it would be well if it could be said of us
that we had ministered with song before the
tabernacle of the Lord.

Would you be a singer ; not on Sundays only,
but always; not with your voice only, but in
your heart; not only when the sunshine pours
into the open casement through the swaying
boughs of honeysuckle, but when the shuttert
tell of bereavement and removal — then remember
these rules: — (ist.) God must put the new song
into your mouth; (2d.) You must be fully con-
secrated to Him ; for the song of the Lord only
begins when the burnt-offering is complete. (3d.)
You must not go into a strange land, for it is im-
possible to sing the Lord's song there.

Sing on, dear heart, sing on. There is noth-
ing that scares off the devil so quickly as a hymn.
Luther said, ** Let us sing a hymn, and spite the
devil." There is nothing that so well beguiles
the pilgrim's step, and quickens his pace, when
the miles are growing long and weary. There is
nothing that brings so much of heaven into the
heart. Singing makes every movement rhythmic,
every service praise, every act thanksgiving.
Sing when times are dark, you will make them
bright ; sing when the house of life is lonely, it
will become peopled with unseen choristers; go
down into the valley of shadow with a song, and
you will find yourself singing the new song of
Moses and the Lamb when you awake on the
other side.

108

// went evil with his house.

I Chron. vii. 2J.

IT is an old-world tale, and those tears have
long since been wiped away. What led to the
death of so many of the stalwart sons of Ephraim
is not quite clear ; but apparently they made a
raid from the hill-fastnesses on the men of Gath
to lift their cattle, and were repelled with great
disaster. At any rate, they were slain by men of
Gath, that were born in the land. They were
part of the early nations of Canaan, that should
have been destroyed. This suggests a significant
train of thought. We must beware of the ten-
dencies and impulses which were born in us,
which we have inherited.

They are strong in all of us. Parents transmit
to an awful extent their own passions. What a
reason this is for carefully curbing them ! I have
known the children of drunkards, grown to mid-
dle-life, who have confessed that they have never
spent a day without the conscious craving for
alcohol. These are the men of Gath, born in
the land, who will slay us unless we are on our
guard.

There will be irremediable sorrow if we yield
to them. Many days of mourning will not avail
to wipe out the sad and bitter memory of the dis-
aster, when once they have wreaked their wild
will on us. If permitted within, they will, like
traitors, open the door to Satan without.

But faith is the victory. He that believeth
that Jesus is the Son of God ; he in whom Jesus
lives by the Holy Spirit; he who knows the
Stronger than the strong man armed, shall be
kept from falling, and preserved unto God's
heavenly kingdom. *' Walk in the Spirit, and
ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the
flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit
against the flesh."

109

Esh'baal, , . . Merib-baal.

J Chron. viii. 33, 34.

BAAL was the idol-god of Zidon and of many
surrounding nations. This idol, representing the
sun in his productive force, was worshipped with
impure and scandalous rites. The introduction
of this name into the appellation of one of Saul's
sons indicates the secret root of the declension
and consequent misfortunes of that ill-fated mon-
arch. In the earlier part of his reign he was
perfect in his allegiance to Jehovah — -Jonathan
means **Gift of Jehovah" — but as the years
went on, he became proud and self-sufficient ; he
turned to Baal, the Spirit of the Lord departed
from him, and an evil spirit rushed in to take
His place, as wind rushes in to fill a vacuum.

The name which Jonathan gave his son had
another significance. Merib-baal is one who op-
poses Baal. It is as though he would indelibly
stamp upon his child an undying hatred and op-
position to that idolatry which was undoing his
father's character and kingdom. In this choice
of his child's name we also gather the deep-
seated piety and devotion of that noble soul,
whose heart was true to God amid the darkening
shadows of his father's reign. It was this that
probably drew David and him so closely in af-
finity.

How absolutely necessary it is for the peace of
a household that there should be a oneness of de-
votion to God 1 Where that is the first consider-
ation, there is peace and blessedness; and that it
may be so, it is of the greatest importance that
the parents should be constant in their godly
allegiance. The ruin of Saul's home, family,
and realm, began in his personal disloyalty to
God ; and how far he influenced the nation for
evil it is difficult to estimate.

110

Chosen to he porters . . . appointed over the
furniture ; . . . the singers.

I Chron. ix. 22, 2gy 31, 33.

WHAT a busy scene is suggested in these
words ! When the morning broke, it called to
duty first the porters who opened the House of
God ; and then, after due ablution, each band of
white-robed Levites began its special service.
There was no running to and fro in disorder, no
intrusion on one another's office, no clashing in
duty, no jealousy of each other's ministry. It
was enough to know that each had been ap-
pointed to his task, and was asked to be faithful
to it. The right ordering of the whole depended
on the punctuality, fidelity, and conscientious-
ness of each.

So it is in the Church of Christ, each is spe-
cially gifted for some post to which he has been set
apart. One to see to the gates, admitting souls
to the kingdom ; one to the baking in pans, at-
tending to the feeding of the household of God;
some are appointed to the furnishing and main-
taining of the House of Prayer; others to the
psalmody, as the hymn-writers of our praise and
holy song. How beautiful it is when we dwell
together in this unity, not envying one another,
nor interfering in each other's ministry. " He
gave some, apostles ; and some, prophets ; and
some, evangelists ; and some, pastors and teach-
ers : for the perfecting of the saints, for the work
of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of
Christ." Whatever is successfully done by the
Church is accredited by Christ to each faithful
servant, just as the impression produced on the
audience by an orchestra is the result of each in-
strument, even to the piccolo, doing its part.
Whatever is done by the whole, is done by each
part of the whole. Be content with the position
to which thy Master has assigned thee, and let
thine eye be single unto Him. So shall each
have praise of God.

Ill

So Saul died for his trespass.

I Chron. x. /j (r. v.).

IT is suggestive to ponder the threefold analy-
sis of Saul's trespass as given here. He kept not
the word of the Lord — this probably refers to his
failure to execute the sentence on Amalek; he
asked counsel of one that had a familiar spirit —
this errand had taken him to Endor on the eve of
the battle; he inquired not of the Lord — this
was conspicuously the case in his persecution of
David.

Do we sufficiently inquire of the Lord ? We
ask the advice of our friends and religious teach-
ers; we sometimes use doubtful methods of as-
certaining God's will, as allowing the Bible to
drop open, or interpreting some coincidence in
the way we secretly desire to follow; besides
which there is an increasing tendency in society
to use the crystal, to consult spiritualistic me-
diums, to employ palmistry. These latter, of
course, repeat the sin of Saul, in going to Endor ;
and the resort to them on the part of children of
tliis world shows that the heart of man must have
something exterior to itself for worship and trust ;
if it has forsaken God it will deal with the devil,
rather than drift on alone. But let us all culti-
vate more carefully the blessed habit of waiting
on God. If we ask Him for guidance. He will
be sure to impart it ; only we must put aside all
selfish and personal ends, desiring to know His
will, with a single purpose, and an unalloyed de-
termination to follow it at any cost.

Christ has told us that willingness to do His
will, is the sure organ of spiritual knowledge.
'* He that wills to do His will, shall know." Be
of good cheer, beloved, God hath chosen thee
that thou shouldst know His will, and see that
Just One, and shouldst hear the voice of His
mouth.

112

Oh that one would give me drink of the water of
the well of Bethlehem ! i Chron. xi. 17.

DAVID had often drunk of this well. As a
boy he had gone with his mother to draw its
clear, cold water. It was, therefore, associated
with the happy days of childhood and youth that
lay behind the haze of the years. In the sultry
afternoon, as, from the cave in which he was hid-
ing, he looked across the valley where his ances-
tress Ruth had gleaned in the fields of Boaz, to
the long straggling town of his birth, it seemed
as though nothing could stay his passionate long-
ing for a draught of the water of the well of
Bethlehem that was at the gate.

Sometimes longings like his take possession of
us. We desire to drink again the waters of com-
parative innocence, of childlike trust and joy ; to
drink again of the fountains of human love; to
have the bright, fresh rapture in God and nature,
and home. But it is a mistake to look back.
Here and now, within us, Jesus is waiting to open
the well of living water which springs up to eter-
nal life, of which if we drink we never thirst.

Purity is better than innocence ; the blessed-
ness which comes through suffering is richer than
the gladsomeness of childhood ; the peace of the
heart is more than peace of circumstances. We
have solace in Jesus, which even the dear love of
home could not equal ; and before us lies the re-
union with the blessed dead. How shall we
thank Him who, at the cost of His own blood,
broke through the hosts of our foes, and won for
us the river of life ; and who forevermore will
lead us to the fountains, where life rises fresh
from the heart of God ? Listen to His voice as
He bids us drink abundantly : " Let him that
is athirst come ; and whosoever will, let him take
the water of life freely."

113

All these tnen of waj', that could keep ranky came
to make David ki?ig. i Chron. xU. j8.

THE crowning of David secured the unity of
Israel. Because all these men of war converged
on the chosen king, they met each other, and be-
came one great nation. The enthroning of David
was the uniting of the kingdom. Herein is the
secret of the unity of the Church. We shall
never secure it by endeavoring to bring about an
unity in thought, or act, or organization. It is
as each individual heart enthrones the Saviour
that each will become one with all kindred souls
in the everlasting kingdom.

Is your heart perfect to make Christ king? We
read in verse 33 of Zebulon, whose warriors were
not of a double heart ; the margin says they were
** without a heart and a heart." The double-
minded man is unstable in all his ways; he is not
to be relied upon in his loyalty or service to his
king. The only blessed life is that of the man
whose eye is single. It is only such an one that
receives anything from the Lord. Let us ask
that the thoughts of our hearts may be cleansed
by the inspiration of God's Holy Spirit, that our
hearts may be perfect toward Him, and so per-
fect to all who hold Jesus as King and Head,
though they differ from us in minor points. Dif-
ferent regiments, but one army, one movement,
one king.

Let us learn to keep rank, shoulder to shoulder,
and in step, with our brethren. Too many like
to break the ranks, and do God's work independ-
ently. Fifty men who act together will do
greater execution than five hundred acting apart.
There is too much of this guerilla fighting.
Unity is strength ; and in their efforts to over-
throw the kingdom of Satan it is most essential
that the soldiers of Christ move in rank and keep
step.

114

And David was afraid of God that day.

I Chron. xiii. 12.

THERE was no reason for David to be afraid
of God, if he conformed to the rules laid down
in Leviticus. There it was expressly ordained
that the Ark should be carried on the shoulders
of the priests, because the cause of God must
proceed through the world by the means of con-
secrated men, rather than by mechanical instru-
mentality. David ignored this provision when
he placed the Ark on the new cart. He diso-
beyed the distinct law of the Divine procedure.
What wonder that Uzza was struck dead ! Fire
will burn if you persist in violating its law.
Obed-edom, on the other hand, studiously obeyed,
so far as he knew them, the Divine regulations,
and to him the Ark was a source of blessing ;
just as fire will toil for us in our furnaces and
grates, and be the greatest possible benediction
to human life, if only we carefully conform to
its ascertained and immutable law.

God is to us what we are to Him. To Pharaoh,
blackness and darkness ; to Israel, light and help.
To the froward. He is froward; to the merciful
man, merciful. To one of the thieves, the cross
of Christ was the savor of death unto death, be-
cause his heart was impenitent ; to the other,
the savor of life unto life, because his heart was
soft and believing. You need not fear God so
long as you walk in His ways and do His will.
He is to be feared only by those who violate His
law. God is a consuming fire. He will make a
breach on those who disobey Him. He will con-
sume the evil of our inner life. But let Him be
welcomed into your life and home ; let the Ark,
which is the symbol of His presence, dwell
within ; bring up your children to minister unto
Him ; and you will be blessed with all that you
have.

115

Then thou s ha It go out to battle; for God is gone
forth before thee. i Chron. xiv. 75.

WHAT was this *' going " ? It was not merely
a fitful breeze stealing through the leaves; it was
not the going of the wind; but of angel squad-
rons who were proceeding against the enemies of
Israel. This thought often occurs in Scripture —
as when Jacob met God's host ; and the warrior-
Saviour told Joshua that He was captain of a host
whom God had commissioned to take Jericho ; so
also the horses and chariots of fire surrounded
Elisha. Hearken to the measured footfall of
God's host, beneath which the mulberry trees
sway, though no wind stirs the sultry air.

God's hosts go forth against His foes and ours.
Perhaps we should feel less oppressed with the
burden of the fight if we realized this. The bat-
tle is not ours, but God's. He will deliver the
Philistines to us so that we shall have to do little
else than fight and spoil. Oh, believe in the co-
operation of the Holy Spirit. Lonely missionary
in some distant station of the foreign field, listen
for the moving in the tops of the mulberry trees !
God is stirring for thy succor. Thou art a co-
worker with Him in making known His salva-
tion ; and He will prosper thee.

Let us wait for our instructions. David in-
quired of the Lord ; let us not anticipate Him.
It is useless to go up until He has gone out before
us. We may as well save ourselves from disap-
pointment by quietly waiting for the salvation of
our God. But oh, be sure that those who wait
for God shall not be long before the God for
whom they wait shall go forth before them to
smite the host, whether it be the hosts of temp-
tation that oppress the inner life, or the hosts of
spiritual foes that oppose the progress of God's
work.

116

And Chenaniah, chief of the Levites^ was for
song. I C/iron. XV. 22.

THE carrying of the Ark to its right place was
associated with every expression of gladness on
the part of king and people; but there were
some who were specially set apart as the expo-
nents of the general joy. In the old time such
were David, Heman, Asaph, Chenaniah ; in our
time. Watts and Doddridge, Wesley and Toplady,
Keble, Havergal, and Bonar.

It is good to be for song. Many a heart that
cannot rank as a musician or poet, may yet be
susceptible to the joy of the Lord, which is ever
passing through creation, catching it up so as to
express it. As the Ark of the Lord comes to its
place within you, sing.

Song is harmony with the life of God. The
will of God sometimes enters life as a sigh, as
David's first attempt to move the Ark ; but after-
ward it becomes a song, as in the second attempt.
Enshrine the Ark of God with its tables of stone,
its mercy-seat of fellowship, its worshipping
Cherubim in the Holy of Holies within ; and
you will find sighs turned to songs, tears to
thanks, mourning to the garment of praise.

Worship the will of God. Conform your life
with it. Draw on the ground a circle to repre-
sent God's will, and step into it, resolving never
to step out of its blessed precincts again. Dare
to believe and confess that Paradise lies within,
though it may be veiled to sight and sense. Ac-
cording to your faith it shall be unto you. If
you believe that heaven is there, you will find
heaven. The Ark of God is ever a provocative
of song. His statutes seem awful in the dis-
tance ; but so soon as we begin to practice them,
they turn to songs.

117

Talk ye of all His wondrous works.

I Chron. xvi. g.

WE do not talk sufficiently about God. Why
it is so may not be easy to explain ; but there
seems a too great reticence among Christian peo-
ple about the best things. In the days of Mala-
chi, " they that feared the Lord spake often one
to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard."
We talk about sermons, details of worship and
church organization, or the latest phase of Scrip-
ture criticism; we discuss men, methods, and
churches; but our talk in the home, and in the
gatherings of Christians for social purposes, is
too seldom about the wonderful works of God.
Better to speak less, and to talk more of Him.

But probably the real cause of our avoidance
of this best of topics, is that our hearts are filled
with so much which is not of God, and they
speak out of their abundance. You may judge
the contents of a shop by what is put in the win-
dows, and you may judge of the inner life of too
many Christians by the subjects which are most
familiar to their lips. The heart does not seek
for God and His strength, nor His face continu-
ally ; and therefore we find it hard to talk of all
His wondrous works.

But go back in thought to the day of Pente-
cost. One of the first signs of the descent of the
blessed Spirit was that the crowd heard every man
speaking in his own tongue the wonderful works
of God. What God has done in the past, as re-
corded on the page of Scripture; what He is
doing day by day in the world around, and in
our hearts; what He has promised to do on the
horizon where heaven and earth shall blend in
the Second Advent ; yield fit themes on which
His children may beamingly talk to each other,
till He goes beside and talks with them till their
hearts burn.

118

Do as thou hast said^ that thy name may be mag-
nified forever. I Chron. xvii. 2j, 24.

THIS is a most blessed phase of true prayer.
Many a time we ask for things which are not ab-
sokitely promised. We are not sure therefore
until we have persevered for some time whether
our petitions are in the line of God's purpose or
no. There are other occasions, and in the life of
David this was one, when we are fully persuaded
that what we ask is according to God's will. We
feel led to take up and plead some promise from
the page of Scripture, under the special impres-
sion that it contains a message for us.

At such times, in confident faith, we say, " Do
as Thou hast said." There is hardly any posi-
tion more utterly beautiful, strong, or safe, than
to put the finger upon some promise of the Di-
vine word, and claim it. There need be no
anguish, or struggle, or wrestling; we simply
present the check and ask for cash, produce the
promise, and claim its fulfillment ; nor can there
be any doubt as to the issue. It would give much
interest to prayer, if we were more definite. It
is far better to claim a few things specifically than
a score vaguely.

David's argument was not simply that his house
might be established, but that God's name might
be magnified forever. It is good when we can
lose sight of our personal interests in our keen
desire for His glory. When we are so delivered
from egotism, that Christ is all and in all. Let
the attitude of your soul be more toward the
glory of God ; and as you quote promise after
promise for the enthroning of Ciirist, the saving
of men, and the sanctification of your soul, dare
in humble faith to say. Do as Thou hast said,
that thy Name may be magnified forever.

119

He put garrisons in Edom ; and all the Edomites
became servants to David. i Chron. xviii. ij.

EDOM and Israel were closely related, but
there was constant rivalry and war between the
two peoples. Sometimes Israel held the upper-
hand for a little ; but Edom soon broke loose
again, and resumed the old independence, with
the border forays (2 Chron. xxi. 10; xxv. 11-
14 ; Ps. cxxxvii. 7). Now as Edom stands for
the flesh, which hungers for the savory dish, and
is willing to give even its birthright of spiritual
power to secure it — this long feud is full of inter-
est to us. It reminds us of the strife of Rom.
vii., between the will of the renewed man and
the law of the members, ever striving for mastery.

We turn on the pages of our Bibles to Isa.
Ixiii., where a mighty Conqueror is seen coming
toward the southern frontier of Palestine, with
His back on Bozrah and Edom. His garments
are dyed with the blood of Israel's foes ; and be-
hind Him cities are desolate and depopulated,
territories are laid waste without inhabitant, and
Edom's hostility is forever quenched in blood.
What a portraiture is here of Jesus '* mighty to
save," who in His cross triumphed over princi-
palities and powers, and made a show of them
openly. He has overcome the world, the flesh,
and the prince of the power of darkness ; and
stands forevermore between us, and our former
oppressors.

Let us resign the conflict wholly to Him. We
have sought in vain for victory by resolutions and
endeavors ; by close attention to religious duties ;
by occupying our mind with various interests, so
that we had no leisure to be tempted ; by diet
and exercise. Now, hand the conflict absolutely
over to Jesus : do not even try to help Him : just
let Him do all : be quite still, and when tempta-
tion comes, let Him meet it.

130

Let us behave ourselves valiantly for our people,
and for the cities of our God. i Chron. xix. ij.

THOSE were days in which rough soldiers,
like Joab, did not hesitate to speak freely of God
to their companions in arms. It is a sorry thing
that it is considered a breach of etiquette to men-
tion God's name in polite society. ** It is not
good form ! "

We are reminded in these words of Joab of
Cromwell's memorable advice to trust in God and
keep the powder dry. David's General felt that
the ultimate issue of the battle must be left to
God ; but that nothing could absolve him and
his soldiers from doing their best. They, at
least, must make careful dispositions for the fight,
and show themselves valiant.

This balance of statement and thought between
God's work and ours is an evidence of fine Chris-
tian sanity. We must believe that God is the
ultimate arbiter, but we must ever speak and act
as though the responsibility were entirely on our-
selves. To believe that God will do all, and
therefore to do nothing, is as bad as to believe
that God leaves us to our unaided endeavors. We
believe in the strength and sufficiency of God's
purpose; but we know that there is a link in the
chain of causation which we must supply.

The servant of God who counts most absolutely
on the communion and cooperation of the
Divine Spirit will be most careful in making all
needful disposition for the fight. He will leave
no stone unturned to secure the victory, though
he knows that the ultimate decision rests with
God. The conquests of the cross recorded in the
Acts of the Apostles were the result of the
united action of the Holy Spirit and the men
who were sent forth with the message of the
gospel. " We are laborers together with God."

121

The time when Kings go out to battle. . . . But
David tarried at Jerusalem. i Chron. xx. i.

THERE are times and tides in the affairs of
men. Favorable moments for doing and daring,
for attempting and achieving. Hours when the
ship must be launched, or it will have to wait for
another spring tide. Days when the seed must
be sown, or it will have to tarry till another au-
tumn. Royal natures show their quality by
taking advantage of times like these, when God
and circumstances favor a great attempt.

Alas, if long-continued prosperity has robbed
the kingly soul of its desire or power to use its
sacred opportunity ! Once missed, it may never
recur ; and the soul that has missed it contemns
itself, and loses heart, and surrenders itself to
lower and ever lower depths of temptation.

Beware of moments and hours of ease. It is
in these that we most easily fall into the power of
Satan. The sultriest summer days are most laden
with blight. There is no such guard against
temptation — next to the keeping power of Jesus,
which is all-sufficient — as occupation to the full
measure of time and capacity. If we cannot fill
our days with our own matters, there is always
plenty to be done for others. You think that no
one has hired you, but it is not so ; the Master
has sent you into His vineyard. If you cannot
do one thing, you can another. There is the
ministry of intercession for those who are in the
field. There is the exercise of worship, in which
you take your place amongst the priests. There
is the ministry of comfort to some of the sad
hearts within your own circle. Redeem the
time, because the days are evil. Watch and pray
in days of vacation and ease, even more than at
other times.

122

And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly
ifi that I have done this thing.

I Chron. xxi. 8 (r. v.).

HIS sin lay in the spirit of pride and display.
He vaunted in the growing numbers of Israel,
and credited them to himself, as the result of his
own prowess and prudence. All such boasting is
very abhorrent to the all-holy God, who will not
give His glory to another. It was the sin of
Nebuchadnezzar, when he said, **Is not this
great Babylon which I have built ? " It was the
sin of Herod Agrippa when the people shouted,
saying, *' The voice of a god, and not of a man ";
and immediately the angel of the Lord smote
him, " because he gave not God the glory."

We are all tempted to it when we count up the
number of our adherents and converts ; when we
unroll our securities and vouchers ; when we
count up our assets; when we display our jewels.
All these are gifts entrusted to our care by our
Father and Saviour, to be held in trust as a mat-
ter for gratitude rather than for pride.

How greatly David had fallen from the level of
his own sweet sonnet I — ''Lord, my heart is not
haughty, nor my eyes lofty." Oh, let us ask our
Master Christ to teach us how to be meek and
lowly in heart, that we may find rest unto our
souls ; let us endeavor to be as little children,
devoid of self-consciousness ; and let us be care-
ful, as we survey the growing treasures and power
of our lives, to remember the Apostle's words :
'/ Who maketh thee to differ? and what hast thou
that thou didst not receive? But if thou didst re-
ceive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not
received it ? "

How well John the Baptist parried the tempta-
tion to jealousy, when he said, ** A man can re-
ceive nothing unless it be given him from
heaven."

123

A man of rest . . . he shall build.

I Chron. xxii. g, lo.

THE men of rest are the builders of the most
lasting structures. Solomon builds the Temple,
not David. Mary's deed of anointing, learned
in much sitting at the Lord's feet, fills the world
with its aroma. What is needed to make us men
and women of rest ?

Fir sty a profound conviction that God is work-
ing.— Never despair of the world, said the late
Mrs. Beecher Stowe, when you remember what
God did with slavery: the best possible must
happen. This serene faith, that all things are
working out for the best — the best to God, the
best to man — and that God is at the heart of all,
will calm and still us in the most feverish days.
There is a strong and an experienced Hand on
the helm.

Nextf an entire surrender to His will. — God's
will is certain to mean the destruction of the flesh,
in whatever form He finds it ; but it is our part
to yield to Him; to will His will even to the
cross; to follow our leader Christ in this, that
He yielded Himself without reserve to execute
His Father's purpose.

Thirdly y a certain knowledge that He is work-
ing within to will and do of His good pleasure. —
What a blessed peace possesses us when once we
realize that we are not called on to originate or
initiate, nor to make great far-reaching plans and
try to execute them ; but just to believe that God
is prepared to work through our hands, speak by
our life, dwell in our bodies, and fulfill in us the
good purposes of His will. Be full of God's rest.
Let there be no hurry, precipitation, or fret ; yield
to God's hands, that He may mould thee : hush
thy quickly throbbing pulse ! So shalt thou build
to good and lasting purpose.
124

Aaron was separated y he and his so7is forever, to
minister unto Him. i Chron. xxiii. ij.

THE threefold office of Aaron suggests our
own. When we are prepared to follow Jesus,
through the rent vail of His flesh, living a truly
separated life, cleansing ourselves from all filth-
iness of the flesh and spirit, we also, as chosen
priests, may exercise these functions of interces-
sion, ministry, and blessing.

Intercession. — The fragrant incense stealing
heavenward is a beautiful emblem of intercessory
prayer. Let us pray more, not for ourselves so
much as for others. This is the sign of growth
in grace, when our prayers are fragrant with the
names of friend and foe, and mingled with the
coals of the golden altar. This is one of the best
gifts; oh to exercise it more persistently !

Ministry. — We have many things to engage our
attention, but they may be unified and elevated
by the one threading purpose of doing all for the
King. Whether we eat, or drink, or whatever
else we do, we may do all to His glory. Go up
and down in the Temple, O priests; engage in
song, or sacrifice, or whatever ministry you will :
but be sure that all is of Him, and through Him,
and to Him forever.

Blessing. — As Aaron came forth from the most
Holy Place to bless the congregation that waited
for him ; so we should bless that little portion of
the world in which our lot is cast. It is not
enough to linger in soft prayer within the vail,
we must come forth to bless mankind. He who
is nearest God is closest man. Let our smile, our
touch, our words, our life, be the greatest bless-
ing possible to those who know us best.

Blessed Spirit, realize through each of us this
threefold ideal, and separate us from sin and the
world, that we may be prepared for it.
125

Princes of the Sanctuary.

I Chron. xxiv. S (R. v.).

IT is not enough for us to be in the sanctuary,
we must be princes there. There must be the
regal mien, which is a meek humility ; the regal
largesse, which is peace and blessing; and the
regal might, which is self-restraint and self-con-
trol. None can be princes of the sanctuary with-
out two things : they ?nust be priests, come of the
priestly line; and kings, royal not because of
deeds of war, but because they are related to the
King Himself, and are regal in their holy and
blameless character.

There is only one power that can make us
princes of the sanctuary — the hand of the exalted
Lamb, who is Himself a Priest-King, after the
order of Melchizedek. He it is who makes us
kings and priests unto God his Father.

He makes us priests. — This is your position,
not now to offer propitiatory sacrifices, but to
present yourselves a living sacrifice; to have com-
passion on the ignorant, and on those who are out
of the way; to swing the censer of prayer between
the living and the dead, so that plagues may be
stayed ; and to plead for the dark sad world, with
its load of wretchedness, need, and sin. See that
your garments are ever white and stainless.

Hemakes us kings. — We reign with Him. Sin
and Satan, the world and the flesh, are beneath
our feet. Ours the life of overcoming power, of
unbroken victory, of identification with Jesus in
the glory that the Father has given Him. They
that receive the abundance of His grace reign. It
is there for us all, but many do not know, or
knowing do not appreciate. It is on our reception
by faith of God's abundant grace, that we reign
in this life, and the next.

126

All these were under the hands of their father
for song. I Chron. xxv. 5, b.

W HAT a glorious family was here ! The house-
hold was a band of choristers ! From morning
to night their home must have been full of holy
song and psalm, or talk about the order of the
Temple service, in which they were all so deeply
interested. Surely no jarring note, no unholy dis-
cord, would live in such an atmosphere 1 The com-
mon occupation and worship must have welded
the brothers and sisters into the tenderest union.

How one would like to have seen Heman com-
ing into the Temple with his children ! It was
largely owing to him and their mother that they
were what they were. We shall read the Psalms
ascribed to him with more interest, now we know
of the holy family life out of which they ema-
nated. What interest there would be when the
father had produced a new psalm to know what
music would suit it best I

Parents ! Be sure that you look on your chil-
dren, as these Hebrews did on theirs, as the gifts
of God ; and remember that if He gives you
many mouths to feed, He will send the where-
withal to feed them. Be careful also that your
own hearts and lives are full of praise and prayer;
what you are, the children will become. Would
that mothers especially realized how they transmit
their characters. But remember that you must be
obeyed in the home. Heman's children were
*♦ under the hands of their father." Young peo-
ple must not get the upper hand.

But if you would rule well, you must obey.
Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun were under the
king (6, R. v.). The man who is himself under
authority, can say, Go, come, do this or that,
with the calm assurance of being obeyed.

127

For the courses of the doorkeepers.

I Chron. xxvi. i (K. v.).

MIGHTY men of valor were needed for this,
just as sweet singers were for the service of song.
Entrance to the House of God was restricted to a
privileged few. Gentiles were excluded from
certain courts, and women from another. It was
incumbent also to look out for those who, like
the publican in the Lord's parable, might shrink
from intruding, and encourage them to enter.
Doorkeepers had to combine many qualities,
which would be of the greatest service if they
could be repeated in each church and chapel of
our great cities, for welcoming old and young.

But chiefly we are concerned with the temple
of the heart. We surely need the doorkeeper
there, for in the history of the inner life there
is so much going and coming; such troops of
thoughts pour into the shrine of the soul, and
pour out. And often, in the crowd, disloyal and
evil thoughts intrude, which, before we know it,
introduce a sense of distance and alienation from
God, as though a cloud had veiled the shining
of the Shekinah. Whenever the sky is overcast
within, we should question whether some traitor,
some excommunicate, has entered. Our native
wit is not quick enough to detect, and our
strength not mighty enough to withstand, the
entrance of all these evil things. Hence the
necessity not only to live in the Spirit, but to
walk in the Spirit, /. e., to submit everything to
the Spirit's scrutiny.

It is necessary also that strict supervision should
be exercised over those who unite with the visible
Church, lest her holiness become diluted, and
her fences broken down. Nothing is more im-
portant than the function of doorkceping for the
Church's purity.

128

All these were the rulers of the substance which
was King David *s. i Chron. xxvii. 31.

THERE was great variety in office and gift.
He who cared for the work of the field could not
have known how to care for the flocks. The
overseer of olive-yard and vineyard would have
been a poor hand with the camels and asses.
One sort of talent was needed for the herds, and
another for the wine cellars ; and yet there was
unity in the common service of the king. We
are reminded of the words of the Apostle, de-
scribing the variety in unity which must obtain
in every healthy church : " There are diversities
of gifts, but the same Spirit; diversities of minis-
trations, and the same Lord ; diversities of oper-
ations, but the same God."

Each of these different men had his distinct
sphere for which he was doubtless specially qual-
ified ; and it was his duty — not to be jealous of
others, nor eager to imitate them, but — to be
faithful in his own province. How much hap-
pier we should all be if we recognized our spe-
cific work in God's house, and kept to it, being
content to serve the King as He has seen fit to
determine, rendering Him the produce in due
season.

How great an error it would have been had
any of these begun to account the produce of cat-
tle or ground as his own. He had nothing that
he had not received, and whatever he controlled
had been entrusted to his care for the emolument
and advantage of his sovereign. Yet, how few of
us realize that we are put in business with God's
capital, for God's use. We take all and give
Him a percentage, instead of using all for Him
and keeping a percentage for ourselves. In this
we rob God, and greatly err. We must acknowl-
edge that both we and all we possess belong to
Him.

129

The Lord God, even 7ny God, . . . will not fail
Thee, nor forsake Thee. i Chron. xxviU. 20.

IT is very comforting to take these words to
our hearts ; especially when we connect them
with the foregoing ones about the pattern, and
apply the whole passage to the temple-building
of our own lives. For each of us, too, there is a
pattern, an ideal, a design, based on the possi-
bilities which God sees to be within our reach ;
for each, too, there is abundance of stored provi-
sion ; but we are not always strong to do. In
Jesus there is the complete ideal of human life ;
of the Child at Nazareth ; of the Servant in the
workshop ; of the Lover in His affection for His
church ; of the Friend, the Sufferer, the Patriot,
the Saviour. Go forth and imitate Him !

Sometimes our heart and flesh fail us in the
mid-passage of life. Once the energy and vigor
of youth promised to sustain and carry us to the
end of life, without fear or failure ; but these die
down, and we wonder how the remainder of the
life-plan can be fulfilled. And the one sufficient
answer is — God. He who helped our fathers to
the very end will help us : He who did not fail
or forsake them, will never leave nor forsake us,
until all the work of life which He has planned,
is finished.

It is probable that you will do better and more
enduring work henceforth than you have ever
done in the heyday and plenitude of youthful
power, if you let God work all through you to
His own glory. You have no need for despond-
ency, God is sufficient. Oh to write this down
on the tablets of the heart— God is; God is
here ; God is all-sufficient ; God has begun and
will finish ! God has promised that He wilh
never leave nor forsake us ; therefore we may
boldly say, "God is my helper, I will not fear
what man shall do unto me."

130

Our days on the earth are as a shadow, and
there is no abiding. i Chron. xxix. i^ (r. v.).

ALL life has been compared to the shadow of
a smoke-wreath ; a gesture in the invisible air ; a
hieroglyph traced for an instant on the sand, and
effaced a moment after by a breath of wind ; an
air-bubble vanishing on the river. Pilgrims and
sojourners, as were all our fathers — such is the
universal confession. But even such may do a
work that will last for ages. David and the men
of his time, though transitory their stay on our
planet, left behind them a standing evidence that
they had been here.

Our life is nothing, but it may be Divine : our
days are as a breath, but they may affect unborn
generations : the tent of the body is laid aside,
but the soul, which had dwelt in it, is immortal
in its touch : it leaves traces of its own immortal-
ity behind in its works, and it lives in them. In
one sense, the answer to the ancient prayer is
certain : *' Establish Thou the works of our hands
upon us." But we may well ask, that they may
be such that we shall have no need to be ashamed
of.

But, for this, God must live mightily within
us. Abide in Me, said our Lord. ... I have
appointed you that ye may bring forth fruit, and
that your fruit may abide. It is impossible to be
in true union with Christ without feeling the
pulse of His glorious life; and where it enters
like a tidal river, it can have but one result — it
must manifest itself in fruit. It is only in pro-
portion as our works are done in God, and God
permeates our works, that they become sources
of enduring blessing to coming time. Pilgrims
though we be, yet, if our lives are spent before
Him, we may build temples which will outlast
the wreck of matter.

131

I will give thee riches.

2 Chron. i. ii^ 12.

SOLOMON had chosen wisdom and knowl-
edge that he might honor God in the sight of his
people. And in return God honored him, and
supplemented his choice with abundant wealth.

This reminds one of the constant teaching of
Jesus. He who seeks his life loses it; but to
lose it is to save it in the best and deepest sense.
Seek first the kingdom of God and His right-
eousness, and all these things shall be added.

The conception of life given in the Bible dif-
fers by a whole heaven from the maxims and
practices of some good and earnest people. Their
notion is that they must work for their living,
''keep the wolf from the door," educate their
children for successfully meeting the demands of
life. These objects are legitimate; but they
were never meant by God to be the supreme aim
of His servants.

His object in our creation, redemption, and
regeneration, was that we might serve His re-
demptive purposes in the world, manifest His
character, do His will, win souls for His king-
dom, administer the gifts with which He had en-
trusted us. He asks us to rise to this high call-
ing, and give our whole life to its realization.
He will be responsible for all else. It is surely
His will that we should give ourselves to useful
trades, and fill our days with honest toil ; but the
main purpose should ever be His glory, and the
exemplification in word and act of His holy
character. If we ask for wisdom to do this well,
we shall get all else into the bargain. God is a
Being of perfect honor and integrity. And if
we dare to make His service the main end of life,
we shall find that no good thing will fail. He
paves the streets of heaven with gold, and will
not withhold it from His children, if they really
need.

132

Because the Lord loveth His people^ He hath
made thee King over them. 2 Chron. it. 11 (r. v.).

HOW truly might these words be addressed to
our blessed Lord 1 Because God loved the world,
He gave His only-begotten Son, His well-beloved,
to be both Prince and Saviour. And it is in
knowing, loving, and serving Him that we can
realize our Supreme blessedness.

God's loving appointment in making Jesus
King will be apparent when we remember how
beautiful He is in His personal character ; how
closely He is indentified with our nature; the
might of His arm with which He shields, the pa-
tience wherewith He bears, the redemption which
He has wrought out and brought in for all who
believe. What could God's love have done
better to approve itself?

Is He your King? Never till He is so, will
you know the fullness of God's love. Those who
question or refuse His authority are always in
doubt about the love of God to themselves and to
the world. Those, on the other hand, who ac-
knowledge His claims, and crown Him as King,
suddenly find themselves admitted to a stand-
point of vision in which doubts and disputations
vanish, and the secret love of God is unfolded.
Then they experience the wise and gentle tend-
ance of the Divine love in its most entrancing
characteristics. All is love where Jesus reigns.

Nothing is more indicative of God's benevo-
lence than His incessant appeal to men to make
Jesus King. The demand may sometimes in-
volve severe agony and suffering for those who
have acknowledged other lords too long; but
God persists in His demand, because only in
serving Jesus can the human heart be truly
blessed.

Go, spread your trophies at His feet,
And crown Him Lord of all !

133

He set up the Pillars before the Temple^ . . .
Fachin and Boaz. z Chron. Hi. ly.

THE meaning of these names is significant —
He shall establish^ and In it is strength. Each
speaks of Him of whom the whole temple was a
type. The Lord Jesus has established the work
of redemption so that it shall never be removed;
has established the covenant, ordered in all things
and sure; has established His Church, so that
the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it ;
has established us before the face of His Father
forevcrmore.

There is much in the New Testament about
the established life. It is the desire of Peter that
the scattered saints should be perfected, stab-
lished, and strengthened. Paul desires to see the
Roman Christians, that he may impart some
spiritual gift so that they may be established : he
desires that the Colossians may be built up in
Christ, and established in the faith. The Epis-
tle to the Hebrews says that it is good for the
heart to be established with grace. Let us ask
that Jesus should establish us in the Divine life,
rooting and grounding us in love and faith, so
that we may not be moved away from the Gospel,
but abound therein with thanksgiving.

It is only as we abide in Jesus, that we shall
become steadfast, unmovable, and always abound-
ing.

But Christ is also our strong Helper. We have
no strength of our own ; but He is strong ; and
in Him we have righteousness and strength. Let
us make our refuge in Him, as the conies, who
are a feeble folk, do in the rock. They who
abide in Jesus derive from Him fresh supplies of
strength for each moment's need. They hear
Him saying, ** Fear not, I will strengthen, yea, I
will help thee"; and they learn to say with
Paul: *'I can do all things in Christ that
strengtheneth me."

134

The Weight could not be found out.

2 Chron. iv. i8.

THIS was as it should be. There was no at-
tempt to keep an accurate account of what was
given to the service of God. Even Solomon's
left hand did not know what his right hand did.
There is a tendency in all of us to keep a strict
account of what we give to God. We note it
down in our ledgers; we rigorously observe the
compact into which we have entered with Him ;
but the loftiest form of devotion overleaps such
calculation.

This liberality of the people reminds us of
Mary's. She never thought of the great cost of
the precious spikenard which she broke over the
Master's person. It was her joy to give her all ;
and it was only when Judas came on the scene,
that we learn how many hundred pence it was
worth. Thus the churches of Macedonia
abounded from their deep poverty unto the riches
of their liberality, so that, beyond their power,
they gave to the cause of God.

This lavish generosity is the reflection of God's.
There is no measure in His bounty. It is heaped
up, pressed down, and running over. He never
says, I will give up to a certain amount, and hold
my hand; but He continues to give like the over-
flowings of the river of Egypt, or the abundance
of the spring flowers, which cover the earth as
with a carpet. Ah, what a God is ours, who
loves with a love that passeth knowledge; and
when He gives, exceeds abundance, however
much we may have asked or thought. How truly
may we say with the psalmist, " Many, O Lord
my God, are the wonderful works that Thou hast
done, and Thy thoughts which are to us-ward.
They cannot be reckoned up in order unto Thee ;
if I would declare and speak of them, they are
more than can be numbered."

135

The7i the House iv as filled with a Cloud.

2 Chron. v. ij.

THIS was the bright Shekinah cloud, the
symbol of the Divine Presence, which had shone
for Moses in the bush, and led the march through
the desert. It was as though God had found a
rest. And as it settled upon the Most Holy
Place, it was as though God said. This is my
rest forever ; here will I dwell, for I have desired
it.

The Most Holy Place is the symbol of our
spirit, meant to be the abiding-place and home of
God ; and shall we not invite the blessed She-
kinah cloud to enter thither, addressing it in the
words of the Psalm, '* Arise, O Lord, into thy
resting-place, Thou and the ark of Thy strength."
Because where He comes to abide He abun-
dantly blesses the provision, and satisfies the
poor with bread ; He clothes His priests with sal-
vation, and makes His saints shout aloud for
joy : He erects the horn of strength and prepares
the lamp of light. What were the conditions of
this incoming? —

First y Unity. — " The trumpeters and singers
were as one^ We must put away strife, divi-
sions, variance, and evil-speaking. Our heart
and life must be full of love. When the disciples
were with one accord, in one place, the Spirit
descended.

Second, Heartiness. — " They lifted up their
voice." There was every symptom of sincerity
and fervor.

Thirdy Thanksgiving and Praise. — "They
praised the Lord, saying, He is good, for His
mercy endureth forever." No refrain occurs of-
tener in the Bible than this. It is an exquisite
expression of the heart's joy and rest in God.
Let us sing it in our darkest, as well as gladdest
hours, full of trust, thanksgiving, and praise.
136

When Thou teaches f them the good way where-
in they should walk. 2 Chron. vi. 27 (r. v.).

THIS sentence is exactly parallel with the
previous one, Whe7i Thou dost afflict them. The
obvious meaning then is, that God sometimes
taught Israel the good way wherein they should
walk, by afflicting them and shutting up the
heaven so that there was no rain. This was no-
tably the case in the days of Elijah. Possibly,
these words were in his heart, when he prayed
earnestly that it might not rain, and it rained
not for the space of three years and six months.
Perhaps the prophet felt that in no other way
could the people be brought back to their senses,
and reconciled to God, except by learning the
futility of idol-worship. So he asked God to
teach them the good way, by shutting up the bad
one.

What a lesson for ourselves : God often teaches
us by bitter disappointment and pain. Our fa-
miliar paths are barricaded by thorns, our familiar
hiding-places are blocked up, our fountains are
poisoned, and all our pleasant things are laid
waste. We sometimes suppose that this is in
wrath; may it not rather be in love? God is
teaching us the good by showing us the evil : is
urging us to tread in the pleasant ways of wisdom,
by allowing us to prove the sharp flints and thorns
of transgression. Then Ephraim bemoans him-
self thus : Thou hast chastised me, and I was
chastised, as a calf unaccustomed to the yoke :
turn Thou me, and I shall be turned. Then the
soul cries, I will go and return to my first hus-
band, for then was it better with me than now.

Sit in God's school, and learn from His Word
and Spirit, that He may not be compelled to
have recourse to such severe measures as these.
Why shouldst thou be afflicted, when He is will-
ing to instruct and teach thee in the way that
thou shouldst go !

137

The Fire came down from Heaven ^ and consumed
the Burnt- Offering. 2 Chron. vii. i.

IT was a very gracious and immediate response
to the prayer of King and people. If we make
room for God, He always comes and fills. If we
seek Him, He is instantly with us. Directly the
soul confesses, it is forgiven ; or consecrates it-
self, it is accepted ; or claims deliverance from
the power of sin, it is cleansed. Do you really
want the Lord to come to you? His glory has
even now begun to shine in on you, to grow and
enlighten you forevermore.

The fire stands for the Divine Presence. Oh
to have always a consciousness of it ! Nothing
would so soon arrest and destroy the impurity
and evil within ; as sunshine does fungus-growth.
We are told that the fire was to be kept burning
on the altar : it was never to go out. Thus, we
should always perpetuate and practice the pres-
ence of God, feeding the fire with the fuel of
prayer and meditation.

Fire also stands for the Divine Purity. As
the Plague of London was stamped out by the
Great Fire which destroyed the nests where it
had bred ; and as the furnace rids the ore of
dross — so the Holy Spirit in thy heart and mine
is a guarantee of holiness and righteousness all
our days.

Fire also stands for Divine Fellowship. It
consumed that part of the offering which was
placed on the altar ; and it seemed as if the Di-
vine nature was therefore feeding upon the sacri-
fice, whilst the remainder of it was consumed by
the offerer. Thus, also, we have communion with
God, as we eat the bread and drink the wine in
the Lord's supper. We feed on Christ in adora-
tion, faith, and identification. God feeds on
the completeness of Christ's obedience, and the
glory of His character. Thus we have fellowship
with the Father and the Son, by the Holy Ghost.
138

The places are holy, whereunto the Ark of God
hath come. 2 Chron. viii. II.

ON tliis account Solomon said, My wife shall
not dwell in the house of David, king of Israel.
What a fatal admission ! She was the daughter
of Pharaoh, and therefore it was no doubt consid-
ered a splendid match for the young king ; and
yet she could not dwell within the precincts of
the old city of David, hallowed by the presence
of the Ark. " He brought her out of the city of
David, into the house that he had built for her."
So from the very outset there was division of in-
terests, making way no doubt for much of the
waywardness of Solomon's character in after life,
so that we are told *' his wives turned away his
heart."

One of the first questions that youth and
maiden should put in considering the question
of marriage is, whether there can be perfect
sympathy in the best and deepest things; for
how can two walk together except they be agreed ?

The blessedness of the marriage tie depends on
whether the twain are one in spirit, in a common
love for Christ, and endeavor for His glory.
Nothing is more terrible than when either admits
in the secrecy of the heart, concerning the other,
My husband or my wife cannot accompany me
into the holy places where I was reared, and in
which my best life finds its home.

All friendship should follow the same law.
We must abide together in the secret place of the
Most High, if our friends and we are to be
friends indeed. All places may be made holy
where the Ark of God's covenant comes. Where
it goes, love may safely follow; but woe to the
love that cannot ! Its inability proves its lack of
elements of permanence and perfect satisfaction.

139

She came to probe Solomon with hard questions.

2 Chron. ix. i.

SHE came to the right place^ for Solomon
passed all the kings of the earth in wisdom; and
all the kings of the earth sought his presence, to
hear the wisdom that God had put into his heart.
Bring your hard questions to Christ ; He is
greater than Solomon. To Him is given riches
and wisdom, and He is made unto us wisdom.
Before the touch of His light the darkest perplexi-
ties must resolve themselves. Though He speak
no audible word, the hardest questions are an-
swered to the eyes and ears of such as wait before
Him.

She came in the right spirit^ bringing him gold
and spices and precious stones. Those who
would get from Christ must be willing to give to
Him. There must be a reciprocity ; and if we
hope to receive from Him from those infinite
stores of which He has the key, we must count
all things but loss for the excellency of the knowl-
edge of Christ, and must be prepared to count
them as refuse if only we may win Him.

She came to a right conclusion. He answered
all her questions, and she returned congratulating
his servants and blessing God. To each of us,
life is full of perplexities, to which we can find
no solution, however much we strain our eyes
and weary our minds. But away there in the
light Christ stands, with the perfect plan of
every maze in His possession, with a key for every
riddle, and solution for every enigma. Wait pa-
tiently. Each tough knot will be untied; and
there will come into our hearts a radiancy, a
bounding joy like that with which the Queen of
Sheba turned to go to her own home. The half
of the greatness of thy wisdom, O Word of God,
can never be told !

140

For it was brought about of God.

2 Chron. x. ij (r, v.).

THIS revolt must have seemed to be the result
of an unfortunate mistake on the part of the ill-
advised young king. He and the young men
that gathered around him thought that the best
way of ruling people was by showing a strong
hand, and adopting a policy of non-compliance
with their very natural requests. But as the re-
sult, the Ten Tribes, never very closely bound to
David's line, sprang away from it, leaving, as
Ahijah had foretold, only two out of the twelve
pieces of the rent garment. Here, however, a
deeper explanation is given: "It was brought
about of God." It seemed to be altogether a
piece of human folly and passion ; but now we
are suddenly brought into the presence of God,
and told that beneath the plottingsand plannings
of man He was carrying out His eternal purpose.

To detect this Divine purpose lying beneath
the cross-currents of human affairs is the preroga-
tive of the saints. In a recent book, the Duke of
Argyll has argued from the purpose-iveness of na-
ture. With as much certainty we may apply that
word to history, politics, the course of current
events. All is under law. God doeth according
to His will among the armies of heaven and the
inhabitants of the earth. " And we know that all
things work together for good to them that love
God, to them who are the called according to His
purpose." Without contravening the action of
man's free choice He carries out His great designs
and works His sovereign will. Let us trust in
this Almighty Providence, which underlies all
events and catastrophes, and pursues its benefi-
cent objects undeterred by our sins. He makes
the wrath of man to praise Him, and weaves the
malignant work of Satan into His plans.

141

Such as set their hearts to seek the Lord God of
Israel came to Jerusalem. 2 Chron. xi. 16.

All the tribes were represented in those great
convocations around the Temple and Ark of God.
The territory of the northern tribes was now
under Jeroboam; the gulf between the two king-
doms was marked and distinct. Everything was
done by the son of Nebat to make it difficult for
his people to cross the frontier ; but their spirit-
ual affinities prevailed. They were stronger than
the antipathy which Rehoboam's haughty be-
havior had excited ; stronger than the fear of in-
curring odium with their own king ; stronger
than the inconvenience of the long journey. In
spite of everything, those whose hearts were set
on seeking the Lord God of Israel, came to Jeru-
salem to sacrifice to the Lord God of their
fathers.

Does not this foreshadow the unity of the
Church of Christ? Territorial distinctions, the
risk of incurring disfavor, the necessity of mak-
ing a sacrifice, these things are as nothing com-
pared with the attraction of our common Lord.
Amid wide disunion and disparity of every kind,
there is one mighty bond which draws believers
of every nation, kindred, tribe, and people to-
gether. Each morning we all ascend the steps of
the same temple of prayer ; each evening we join
in one great hymn of praise ; at each Lord's
Supper we sit at the same table. Eating of one
Bread, we know that we are one Loaf; drinking
of one Cup, we profess our indebtedness to the
same precious Blood for our hope and ground of
acceptance (i Cor. x. 17, R. v., marg.).

We must set our hearts, if we desire to execute
any great purpose in our life : otherwise we shall
be daunted and checkmated by the strong opposi-
tion of men and things.

142

He did evil, because he prepared not his heart to
seek the Lord. z Chron. xU. 14.

IN the margin of the A. V. for prepared the
alternative xtwdi^x'mg fixed is suggested. The R.
V. gives set, "he set not his heart to seek the
Lord." This is very true of all of us. Before
temptation comes we almost always have a warn-
ing of some kind. The barometer falls; the sea
birds come in to the shore ; the leaves of the
trees are bent back. The Spirit of God contrives
to give the soul some signal that at any moment
it may expect an assault. The question always is
at such a time, Is the heart set on seeking and
doing the will of God ? If it be, if without re-
serve the whole nature is determined to do God's
will at any cost, there is no fear of the enemy ef-
fecting an entrance. All day the thunder of its
artillery may boom around, but from every side
the foe will be repelled, until presently the storm
will roll far down the wind.

If, on the other hand, there is any vacillation ;
if, whilst ostensibly avowing our determination to
do the right thing, we secretly whisper in our
deepest consciousness that we intend to go as far
as we can in self-indulgence, and would be
almost thankful if circumstances compelled us to
yield — we are almost certain to fall. The will
must be whole in its resolves ; the heart must be
consecrated in its most secret determinations; no
traitor may be harbored, who may open the
postern gate. Oh to say with David, ** My heart
is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed" ! But this
steadfastness is one of those preparations of the
heart which can only be obtained through the
gracious indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Hence
we pray with David, ** Renew a steadfast spirit
within me." And while we pray, we must never
forget our Lord's command to watch also.

143

Beholdy the battle ivas before and behi?id.

2 Chron. xiii. 14.

ABIJAH'S address is full of true and noble
utterances, especially when he describes God as
being the Captain of the Host ; and this spirit
soon permeated his people, so that when the bat-
tle was sorest, and they were hemmed in by their
foes, it was natural for them to turn to the Lord,
and for the priests to give a blast on the trumpets,
like that with which the new moon and the
solemn feasts were inaugurated.

The point for us to remember is that our ene-
mies may shut us in on all sides, preventing re-
inforcements from north, south, east, and west;
but no earthly power can ever shut off God from
above us. The way upward is always kept clear ;
the ladder which links the beleaguered soul with
God and heaven can never be blocked, except by
transgression and sin.

The Priest is always with thee, child of God.
His help is always at hand. Neither death, nor
life, nor height, nor depth, nor principalities,
nor powers, can ever separate thee from the
down-coming of God's love.

The battle is often before and behind. From
behind come memories of past failure, the conse-
quences of mistakes, the misunderstandings which
have alienated us from others, and made it diffi-
cult for us to live as we would ; on the other
hand perplexities and anxieties seem to bar our
future path. But when the battle is before and
behind, remember that God besets His people be-
hind and before, and covers them with His hand.
The invisible film of His protection makes the
soul invulnerable. The life that is hid with
Christ in God is beyond the reach of harm.

144

Lord, there is none beside Thee to help.

2 Chron. xiv. ii (r. v.).
REMIND God of His entire responsibility. —
" There is none beside Thee to help." The odds
against Asa were enormous. There was a million
of men in arms against him, beside three hundred
chariots. It seemed impossible to hold his own
against that vast multitude. There were no allies
who would come to his help : his only hope
therefore was in God. There was none beside to
help. It may be that your difficulties have been
allowed to come to so alarming a pitch, that you
may be compelled to renounce all creature aid, to
which in lesser trials you have had recourse, and
cast yourself back on your Almighty Friend.

Put God between yourself and the foe. — To
Asa's faith, Jehovah seemed to stand between the
might of Zerah and himself, as one who had no
strength. Nor was he mistaken. We are told
that the Ethiopians were destroyed before the
Lord and before His host, as though celestial
combatants flung themselves against the foe in
Israel's behalf, and put the large host to rout, so
that Israel had only to follow up and gather the
spoil. Our God is Jehovah of Hosts, who can
summon unexpected reinforcements at any mo-
ment to the aid of His people. Believe that He
is there between you and your difficulty, and
what baffles you will flee before Him, as clouds
before the gale.

Identify your cause with His. — **In Thy
name are we come. . . . Let not man prevail
against Thee." It is a great matter when a small
State is so identified with a strong European
power, as that an insult to one of its officials is
deemed a casus belli by the more powerful Gov-
ernment ; and whenever we are so delivered from
selfish aims, as to be able to show that our cause
and God's are one, we are invincible.
145

They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God
of their fathers. 2 Chron. xv. 12.

WE hear but little talk in the present day of
the covenant, the mention of which was dear to
God's people of olden time. There is this differ-
ence between // and the covenants which we
make with God. That is permanent, these
evanescent. That is founded upon the oath and
promise of God ; these on the resolutions and
endeavors of man. That is full of promises of
what God will be and do; these recount what
we are prepared to sacrifice and suffer. And
though we sign them with blood drawn from our
veins, they will disappoint and fail.

Do not think too much of entering into and
keeping a covenant with God ; but remember that
the Lord Jesus, on our behalf, has entered into
covenant relation with the Father, and the Father
with us in Him. This is the new covenant. It
is drawn out at length in Hebrews viii. Very
little is said about our side, but it is full to over-
flowing of God's. Nothing is said of our fidel-
ity to our obligations, because man has been too
often weighed in the balances and found want-
ing ; and because the Lord Jesus Christ, as our
representative, has already fulfilled all the con-
ditions of obedience and devotion on which its
provisions depend. He has also graciously un-
dertaken to realize those conditions by the Holy
Spirit in us.

Every time we put to our lips the cup of the
new covenant, we humbly remind God of all He
has promised, and ask Him to do as He has said.
At the same time we may confidently ask the
great Surety of the covenant to accomplish in us
such a mind as may love and keep our Father's
law. And what He did for our fathers, who were
naturally just such as we are, He will certainly
do for us.

146

To shoiv Himself strong in the behalf of them
whose heart is perfect toward Him.

2 Chron. xvi. g.

THE emphasis is clearly on the word perfect.
That was the point between Hanani the seer, and
Asa the king. Asa's mistake and sin lay in his
resorting to Benhadad, king of Syria, as an ally
against Baasha. Evidently he did not perfectly
trust the delivering power of God; and in this
failure of his faith, he forfeited the all-sufficient
help which would have more than availed. As
the seer said very truly, simple trust in God had
brought deliverance from the Ethiopians and
Lubim, though they were a much huger host than
Baasha's; and the same attitude in respect of
Baasha would have secured a like result. God
was only awaiting the appeal of Asa's faith, to
show Himself strong. What a mistake to send
to Syria !

Now, dear reader, this is very pertinent for
your life and mine. We often complain that we
are bereft of help, and send off for Benhadad.
And all the while the eyes of the Lord are look-
ing pitifully and longingly at us. Nothing would
give Him greater pleasure tlian to show Himself
strong on our behalf. This, however, He cannot
do until renouncing all other confidants and help-
ers, our heart is perfect in the simplicity and
frankness of its faith. What an exquisite thought
is suggested by the allusion to the eyes of the
Lord running to and fro throughout the whole
earth. At a glance He takes in our position;
not a sorrow, trial, or temptation visits us with-
out exciting His notice and loving sympathy. In
all the whole wide earth there is not one spot so
lonely, one heart so darkened, as to escape those
eyes. Oh for tlie perfect confidence which will
allow Him to act ! It is for lack of this that we
remain unhelped, and spend our days in the
midst of wars and tumults.
147

His heart was lifted up in the ways of the Lord.

2 Chron. xvii. 6.

SURSUM corda ! Lift up your hearts ! How
beautiful is this ejaculation in the Communion
Service of the Church of England, and the re-
sponse, "We lift them up unto the Lord." I
never hear it without the thrill of a holy impulse
passing through me. It is possible, and it is meet
and right, to lift up our hearts from the sordid
cases and pressing responsibilities of daily life,
into the calm, serene presence of God our Father.

Lift up your heart to God, as a child its face to
be kissed. Lift it up free from mistrust and sin-
ful stain, and unkind feeling toward any. Lift
it up in holy joy and inspiration. Lift it up as a
censer filled with the hot coals, from which sweet
fragrance exhales. And God will bend down to
lift it higher, and fill it with His peace and joy
and purity.

In hours of depression look up, be lifted. Sur-
su7n corda ! When the foe is pressing you most
severely, look up, your redemption draweth nigh.
When the river has to be crossed, when the last
farewell must be said, when the flesh fails, let
your mind and heart thither ascend, and there
continually dwell where Jesus has entered as your
Forerunner.

If you would lift up your heart, you must be in
the ways of the Lord, as the good Jehoshaphat.
You must seek the Lord God, and walk in His
commandments. You must take away the high
places and groves of idolatry and impurity. Be-
ware of the world's birdlime ! Shake yourself
from the bands and bonds that would detain you.
Oh, heart of mine, why is thy flight so low?
Lift thyself up and sit down with Christ in the
heavenly places ! " Unto Thee, O Lord, do I
lift up my soul. Let not mine enemies triumph
over me ! "

148

/ hate him ; for he never prophesied good unto
me, but ahvays evil. 2 Chron. xviii. 7.

THIS was a very naive confession. Of course,
Micaiah could not speak good of Ahab, whose
life was diametrically opposed to all that was
God-like and holy. Micaiah had no animosity
toward the king of Israel; it was not a personal
matter with him. He simply read from the page
of the future as God opened it to his eyes, and in
which the out-working of the king's evil life was
disclosed in gloomy characters. It was as ab-
surd to hate him because he read such dark les-
sons from the inevitable future, as for a house-
holder to shoot his dog, that bays all night, to
warn his master against the burglar engaged in
rifling his home.

The Bible, the pastor, the whole Church of
God, are hated by worldlings for the same rea-
son, because they cannot speak hopefully of their
future. It is as though a card -playing crew were
to hate the watchman who told them that the
course of their vessel was straight for the surf and
rocks of fhe shore. If men will persist in violat-
ing God's law, in breaking through the hedge of
thorns, and in pursuing their own wild ways,
they cannot possibly expect the blessedness of
the Beatitudes. However, their hatred against
those who warn them is really directed toward
God. They are indignant that they cannot have
their way ; their proud spirit would like to over-
turn the very order of the universe rather than
that it should be thwarted. They cannot endure
the contrast between God's children and them-
selves. Do not be surprised if the world hate
you. It shows that you are no more of the world
than your Master was. Jesus said : "If they have
persecuted Me, they will also persecute you ; if
they have kept My saying, they will keep yours
also."

149

Shouldest thou help the ungodly y and love them
that hate the Lord ? 2 Chron. xix. 2.

THIS looks back to xviii. i, where we learn that
Jehoshaphat, though he had riches and honor in
abundance, joined affinity with Ahab. Riches
and abundance are dangerous things. They
usually weaken our character, and incline us to
worldly alliances ; and it was to their subtle and
pernicious influences that Jehoshaphat fell a vic-
tim. Ah ! what a fall it was to hear him saying,
** I am as thou art, and my people as thy peo-
ple." Well might Jehu take up the role which
his father had filled before Asa, and protest. But
let us seriously question whether, though there
are good things found in us, we may not be fall-
ing into the same mistake, and sin. Are there
not ways in which we say to men of the world,
with whom we mix, " I am as thou art " ?

There is a great tendency in the present day
to boast in the closeness with which we can ap-
proach the world without injury. We join in the
social life, read the same books, go to^ the same
amusements, talk of the same themes;' and it is
almost impossible in a drawing-room to tell the
difference between the Jehoshaphats and the
Ahabs. So also, in our methods of doing good.
The real difficulty lies away back in our want of
engagedness with Christ. It is of little use to
find fault with the outward, as long as the heart
is wayward. Love to the Lord Jesus is our only
safeguard. The love of Christ must constrain
us. Personal attachment to Christ will wean us
away from this close identification with the world.
But if we persist in identifying ourselves with the
world, which God has doomed, we must not be
surprised to find that wrath is on us from the
Lord : and He will chasten us for love's sake.

150

He appointed singers unto the Lord, that should
praise the beauty of holiness. 2 Chron. xx. 21.

DOST thou praise the beauty of holiness ? Is
holiness beautiful to thee? Art thou in love with
it as it is presented in the glorious Lord ? Canst
thou turn from the noise and anxiety of life's bat-
tle to dwell on the loveliness of God and of the
devout life, and to praise Him whose mercy en-
dureth forever? It is a rare accomplishment,
acquired only through the indwelling of the Holy
Ghost. In each of us there should be the priest-
side of character as well as the warrior : the love
for what is beautiful in holiness as well as for the
strong and active in service.

But the special characteristics of this battle was
that the good king put the singers in the forefront
of the army, and praised for a victory which was
only assured to him by faith. Yet so sure was he
of it, that he could praise before he entered into
the battle.

There is much to help us here in our daily
combat for God and truth. Let us fill the morn-
ing hour with holy song, in the heart, if not with
the voice ; let a psalm or hymn be part of the
daily reading; let there be the confidence that
God is going to bless, which cannot restrain its
jubilant expression. So in all prayer, wait on
God till you feel that you can praise Him for
what you have asked Him to bestow.

When they began to praise, the Lord did all
the rest. Before the onset of His Divine rein-
forcements the enemy fled. His people had but
to gather spoil, and then the praise which had
anticipated the battle was consummated as they
returned, in the valley of blessing.

There's a song in the valley of blessing so sweet,
And angels would fain join the strain.

As with rapturous praises we bow at His feet
Crying, " Worthy tlie Lamb that was slain ! "

151

The same time also did Libnah revolt from under
his hand. 2 Chron. xxi. jo.

AS long as the kings of Judah remained true
to their allegiance to God they were able to keep
in subjection the surrounding nations; but just
so soon as they revolted from God these peoples
revolted from them. It was as though power
descended into them from the source of all
power ; and when the link between themselves
and God was broken, that between them and
their subordinates was broken also.

This applies very widely : To our passions. —
If they master you, rebelling against and revolt-
ing from your hand, it is because there is some
flaw in your consecration, and you have forsaken
to some extent the Lord God.

To our families. — When the heads of a home
are in perfect unity with each other and God,
they may generally expect that their children will
grow up submissive and obedient. Their author-
ity will be recognized and honored. Revolt in
the home indicates very often some lapse in obe-
dience and loyalty to God.

To our influence over men. — When the soul is
in blessed fellowship with God, power flows into
it from Him, before which strongholds are over-
thrown. "I am full of power by the Spirit of
the Lord," said the prophet. " I am a man un-
der authority, and have soldiers under me," said
the centurion.

Give yourself entirely to Jesus. Obey Him
absolutely; receive by faith from Him living
power and grace ; be a channel through which
He may pour Himself; and you will find that
men and things will fall into line at your bidding,
and you shall receive power. Our Libnahs will
not revolt, unless we forsake the Lord God of
our fathers.

152

Hid in the House of God.

2 Chron. xxii. 12.

SAFE from Athaliah, who would have ruth-
lessly destroyed him if she had had an inkling of
his existence, the young Joash was reared beneath
the care of Jehoiada and his wile within the pre-
cincts of the house of God. He was hidden in
the secret place of the Most High, and abode
under the shadow of the Almighty. There let
us also live. Let us know what it is to dwell in
the house of the Lord all the days of our life,
and all this day. Let us cultivate the life which
is hid with Christ in God.

It is well often to remind ourselves that we are
in God, and that the film of His environing
presence is about us like a wall of thick-ribbed
steel. We are in Him as the jewel in the casket;
as the chick under the feathers of the hen ; as
the child in the warm embrace of its mother.
And so long as we stay there we are invulnerable.
Therefore our great enemy is continually endeav-
oring to allure us into the open ; he knows he
can do as he likes with us, if only he can induce
us to venture beyond our hiding-place. There-
fore, beware of any temptation to worry, to
amass this world's goods, or to seek the indul-
gence of appetite ; it is by such lures and baits
that Satan seduces unwary souls from their safe
hiding.

If a day in God's courts is better than a thou-
sand, what must it be to dwell in the house of the
Lord all one's days, to behold His beauty, and
enquire in His temple. The rarest visions, the
fairest fellowship, the most entrancing joys, the
most confident outlook on life and the hereafter,
are the accompaniments of such a residence.
The altar of incense, the laver of daily cleansing,
the light of the Shekinah, the holy psalm and
song, the great altar of sacrifice, are familiar ob-
jects to the hidden soul.

153

And the city was quiet after they had slain Atha-
liah with the sword. 2 Chron. xxiii. 21.

THIS was a great revolution, admirably planned
and carried into effect. It was intolerable that
such a woman as Athaliah should desecrate the
throne and temple. Jehoiada, by his prudence
and courage, deserved well of the entire nation
in ridding the world of her presence. No half
measures would have availed to meet the case.

There are times in every life when strong and
strenuous action is inevitable if the cause of God
is to be promoted and saved. In many of us
there is a willingness to tolerate evil, rather than
arouse ourselves to grasp it with a firm hand, and,
if needs be, drag it up by its roots. Be strong,
yea, be strong, is an injunction that has to be
emphasized even to men who are greatly beloved.
The easiest thing for Jehoiada would have been
to shut himself up in the temple, and leave things
to take their course. The noblest thing was to
come forth, and boldly confront the rampant evil
of his time. So God's call rings out for helpers
in the great fight against sin. Its notes penetrate
into the retirement of Christian homes, to noble
women and devoted men, demanding that they
should come forth to resist impurity, the love of
strong drink, the strong tendency toward extrav-
agance, luxury, and waste. The world is full of
Athaliahs, and it is not befitting that the Jehoia-
das should remain at their holy rites and services
if there is a paramount need for action in the
world's battlefield, in the strife against wrong.

The children of God are citizens of the New
Jerusalem, but they are also certainly citizens
here ; and they must not stand aside from great
public issues, allowing them to be decided by un-
godly and wicked men.

154

The Spirit of God clothed itself with Zechariah
the son of Jehoiada.

2 Chron. xxiv. 20 (r. V. fuarg.).

AS we put on a cloak or dress, so does the
Spirit of God, as it were, hide Himself in those
who surrender themselves to Him, so that it is
not they who speak and act, but He within them.
Have you at any time been conscious of having
the clothing of the Holy Spirit? Remember
that cloth or leather must yield itself easily to the
movements of its wearer, and not less pliable
and supple must we be to the Spirit of God.

When the Spirit of God is thus within us, and
speaks or acts for us, we may expect, as Zecha-
riah found it, to come into collision with the en-
tire drift and current of society around us, and
to incur odium and hatred. Men do not like to
be told that they cannot prosper because they
have forsaken God ; but we have no alternative
than to witness against their sins. Does the
Spirit clothe Himself with you, my friend, as you
anticipate the work of to-day? Are you using
Him, or is He to use you? Are you seeking to
clothe yourself with His power for some personal
ambition, or are you desirous that He should ar-
ray Himself in you, so that the glory may evi-
dently be His? In the agony of battle, when
great deeds are to be done, no one stops to think
of the uniform of the soldier, but only of the
might beneath it.

But for this you must be prepared to pay the
cost, and be willing to cross the cherished pur-
poses of men, as the Spirit of God by your voice
or deed witnesses against them. They stoned
Zechariah at the command of the king; but
years after the Lord Jesus referred to it, for no
faithful martyr seals his witness with his blood
without some quick glance of recognition from
the Master, and some record on the imperishable
tablets of his heart.

155

The Lord is able to give thee much more than
this. 2 Chron. xxv. g.

AMAZIAH had many good qualities, but he
did not clearly see how impossible it was for
Israel to be allied with Judah without invalidat-
ing the special Divine protection and care on
which Judah had been taught to rely. We must
understand that God cannot be in fellowship
with us if we tolerate fellowship with the un-
godly. We must choose between the two. If
we can renounce all creature aid, and trust sim-
ply in the eternal God, there is no limit to the
victories He will secure; but if, turning from
Him, we hold out our hand toward the world,
we forfeit His aid. O child of God, let not the
army of Israel go with thee ! Do not adopt
worldly policy, methods, or partnership. How-
ever strong you make yourself for the battle in
alliance with these, you will fail. Indeed, God
Himself will make you fall before the enemy,
that you may be driven back to Himself.

But you say that you have already entered into
so close an alliance that you cannot draw back.
You have invested your capital, you have gone to
great expenditure. Yet it will be better to for-
feit these than Him. Without these aids, and
with only God beside you, you will be able
to rout Edom, and smite ten thousand men.
Would that men knew the absolute deliverance
which God will effect for those whose hearts are
perfect toward Him !

The soldiers of Israel committed depredations
on their way back. This was the result of the
folly and sin of Amaziah's proposal. We may
be forgiven, and delivered, and yet there will
be after-consequences which will follow us from
some ill-considered act. Sin may be forgiven,
but its secondary results are sometimes very bit-
ter. We must expect to reap as we sow.

X56

He was marvellously helped^ till he was strong.

2 Chron. xxvi. 75, 16.

GREAT and marvellous are Thy works, O
God ; that our soul knoweth quite well. Thou
hast showed marvellous loving-kindness. We
must sing to Thee; for Thou hast done marvel-
lous things. It is marvellous that Thou shouldst
have set Thy love upon us ; that Thou shouldst
have watched over our interests with unwearied
care ; that our sins, or unbelief, or declensions,
have never diverted Thy love from us. " Mar-
vellous " is the only word we can use, as we
think of the condescension of the well-beloved
Son to the manger-bed ; of the agony and
bloody-sweat ; of the cross and passion — and
all for us who were His enemies. But it is
most marvellous of all that Thou hast made us
children, heirs, and joint-heirs with Christ. To
think that we shall shine as the sun of Thy king-
dom, that we are to sit upon His throne, and
be included in that circle of love and life of
which the throne of God and the Lamb is the
centre ! Surely the marvels of Thy grace will
only seem the greater when eternity with its
boundless ages gives us time to explore them.

The danger, however, is that we should be-
come strong in our own conceit, and credit our-
selves with the position which is due to the grace
of God alone. Oh for the truly humble spirit of
the little child, that we may never vaunt our-
selves ! The laden ship sinks in the water ; the
fruit-burdened bough stoops to the ground ; the
truest scientist is the humblest disciple. Oh to
be submerged and abashed for the marvellous
help of God!

God cannot trust some of us with prosperity
and success, because our nature could not stand
them. We must tug at the oar, instead of spread-
ing the sail, because we have not enough ballast.

157

Jotham became mighty y because he ordered his
ways. 2 Chron. xxvii. 6 (R. v.).

THERE is a lower sense in which this holds
good in daily and business life. You can hardly
imagine a really successful man being untidy and
disorderly. Method is the law of success; and a
truly holy soul is sure to be orderly. I do not
remember ever meeting one who really walked
with God who did not make orderliness one of
the first principles of life.

The Lord Jesus would have the men sit down
in rows before He broke the bread; and He
wrapped together His grave-clothes before He left
the sepulchre. It was, therefore, in keeping
with the whole tenor of His example when the
apostle prescribed that all things should be done
decently and in order.

Clear handwriting, especially the direction of
an envelope, to give the postman as little trouble
as possible ; the careful folding of our cast-off
garments, to save the maids needless work ; the
leaving our room that we have been occupying
as little disturbed in its arrangements as may be;
the gathering up of luncheon fragments from the
green banks, where we have sat to view the en-
trancing prospect ; the arrangement of papers,
and accounts, and magazines, so that we can
readily lay our hand upon whatever is required ;
the adopting of mental order in prayer and con-
versation, and in the thinking out of plans and
purposes; neatness in dress — these are all part
of the right ordering of life which makes for its
success and comfort, and greatly for peace in the
home. They are the habits of the soul that
walks before God, and which is accustomed to
think of Him as seeing in secret, and as consid-
ering all our ways. In this way we may become
mighty, and by being faithful in that which is
least come to great charges.

158

They clothed all that were 7iaked, and gave them
to eat and drink. z Chron. xxviii. i^.

A GREAT burst of generosity was here, for
Israel had every reason to be incensed against
Judah for the raid made on their territory. But,
instead of pushing their advantage to the utter-
most, they returned good for evil, and antici-
pated the words of ibe apostle, " If thine enemy
hunger, feed him ; if he thirst, give him drink :
for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on
his head."

Have you in your life people who have done
you injury, and against whom you entertain hard
thoughts? You do not injure them in return,
but you cannot pray for them. So far as you
can, you avoid them; you make no attempt to
overcome the evil that is in them. But to act
thus is to come short of Christ's standard. It is
your duty, not merely to keep at a distance and
give a wide berth, but by love to destroy the evil,
to transform the enemy into a friend, and to
create love and friendship where hostility and
alienation had reigned. It is God's way, and in
this we are bidden to be perfect, as our Heavenly
Father is perfect.

Will you try it? Will you begin by doing
kind acts to those who have harmed you? Not
because as yet you feel as you would, but because
it is right. Then as you dig the trench in right-
doing, look up to God, and He will pour into
your heart the warm gush of affection. If you
sincerely will His will in this matter, and act as
the Good Samaritan did to the Jew, and exercise
faith, God will come to your aid whilst you
clothe others and minister to them, you will find
their hard heart melted, and yourselves clothed
with the beautiful garments of salvation, and of a
meek and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is of
great price.

* 159

When the hirnt- offering began ^ the song of the
Lord began also. 2 Chron. xxix. 27.

THIS chapter contains a parable of the cleans-
ing of the heart, meant to be a temple for God :
but the doors of prayer are unopened, the lamps
of testimony unlit, the burnt-offerings of self-
sacrifice neglected ; and, as the result, grass
grows thick in courts which should have been
trodden by the feet of Levite minstrels engaged
in holy song. If ever that song is to break out
again, it can only be after a thorough cleansing
and renovation of the inner shrine. You tell me
that you cannot sing the Lord's song; then I
know you have gone into the strange land of
backsliding. You acknowledge that for some
time now you have taken no delight in God or
His service; then I am sure that the temple is
badly in need of renovation.

Cleanse the house of the Lord. Bring out all
the uncleanness. By self-examination, confession,
and repudiation, be clean of all the filth which
has accumulated through months and years of
neglect. Resume the position of entire devotion,
as a prepared and sanctified soul. Offer the sin-
offering for the past, and prepare the burnt-offer-
ing of entire consecration for the future. And
when that is offered, when you determine to be
wholly God's, lay yourself, with all the interests
of your life, at the feet of Jesus, for His disposal ;
then the song of the Lord will begin again.

The music of your life is still, because you are
out of accord with the will of God ; but when by
surrender and consecration there is unison, your
heart will be filled with songs without words, and
love like an ocean in the fullness of her strength.
When the rich, selfish bachelor suddenly finds
himself compelled to care for his dead brother's
little children, he is startled to find that a new
song has begun in his life.

160

The good Lord pardon every one that prepareth
his heart to seek God. 2 Chroji. xxx. 18, ig.

A VERY touching prayer, that opens up deep
thoughts as to the progress of the true knowledge
of God in Israel, and of the comparative value
of heart preparation and ceremonial cleansing.
Here were crowds of well-meaning people who
had come from all parts of the land in answer to
Hezekiah's invitation. Unaccustomed to temple
usage, strangers to the temple rites, they had par-
ticipated in the festivities of this great Passover
without submitting first to the necessary ablutions.
Their heart was prepared to seek God, they were
proud of the great past, they desired to stand
right with the Lord God of their fathers; but
they were sadly ignorant and careless. The only
thing to be done was to pray that their ignorances
and negligences might be forgiven.

It is thus that Jesus pleads in heaven ; and
there are many that obtain mercy on the ground
of His merit, because when they sin they do so
ignorantly, and from want of knowledge rather
than from want of heart. The devout ritualist
who lays an excessive stress on outward forms ;
the man who has sensuous and distorted views of
Christ, but sincerely desires to be accepted through
Him ; the soul that touches the hem of the gar-
ment as though the healing power were inde-
pendent of the will-power of the Redeemer; the
dying malefactor, who, in his last hours, catches
at some distorted representation of Christ which
is filtered through to him from the chance word
of an uninstructed preacher — these are included
in the fruitful pleading of the Great High Priest,
who has compassion on the ignorant and on those
who are out of the way. You may not under-
stand doctrine, creed, or rite; but be sure to
seek God. No splendid ceremonial nor rigorous
etiquette can intercept the seeking soul.

161

He did it with all his heart and prospered.

2 Chron. xxxi. 21.

THE man who does his business with all his
heart, is sure to prosper. To put your heart into
your work is like genius manipulating common
materials, till their worth becomes priceless, just
because of what has been put into it.

The heart stands for the emotions and affec-
tions. What the furnace is to the factory or steam-
ship, that the heart is in the economy of our na-
ture. It is a great thing to love our life-work, to
have an aim that kindles us whenever we think
of it. Those who are so happily circumstanced,
cannot be sufficiently thankful. But what of
those who are bound to a work which they did
not choose and do not like, who find their daily
toil irksome and distasteful — is there any help for
them? Can they possibly learn to do such work
from their hearts? Certainly: because of Him
who set it, and for whom it may be done.

Love performs the most onerous duties with all
its heart, if they conduce to the comfort and help
of those whom it loves more than itself. Does
not a mother or wife perform tasks from which the
hireling would shrink? She does them with all
her heart, not considering for a moment the
loathesomeness and hardness of the demand. So
if we look at our life-work as God-appointed ; if
we realize that He has fixed it for us, who de-
termined the orbits of the stars; if we can hear
the voice of Jesus saying, "Do this for Me" —
there is no further thought of hardship or dis-
taste. Remember to do all your life-work for
Jesus ; do all in His name and for His glory ; ask
Him to fill your heart with submissive, loyal
obedience, and you will find that when you in-
troduce the personal element of Christ-service
into the meanest acts, they will glisten like a
piece of gold-tapestry.

162

Hezekiah the king^ and the prophet Isaiah, prayed
and cried to heaven. s Chron. xxxii. 20.

IT was the indignity done to Jehovah that
stirred these two holy men to the heart. Not
that their lives, and the lives of their people, and
the beautiful holy city, were in danger ; but that
Sennacherib spake against the God of Jerusalem,
as against the gods of the people of the earth,
which were the work of the hands of man. Oh
that we were possessed with a similar zeal for God,
so that we might look at sin as it affects Him,
and lament over the awful wrongs which are con-
tinually being perpetrated against His holy, lov-
ing nature ! What an argument this would give
us in prayer !

This constitutes a special reason why we should
plead for a revival of religion throughout our land.
Men speak and act so shamelessly, as though God
had abdicated His throne, and was hardly to be
taken account of. They sin against Him with so
high a hand, and treat His laws with so much
contumely. Are there no Hezekiahs and Isaiahs
who will pray and cry to the God of our fathers
to do again the great works He did in their days,
and in the old time before?

Then the Lord would save us, and guide us on
every side (22). There never was a more con-
spicuous and glorious deliverance than when the
angel of God wrought for Israel against Assyria.
The Lord became a place of broad rivers and
streams across which the enemy could not pass.
As the mother bird settling down on her nest,
He covered the city with His outspread wings.
And the rich spoils of the foe were left for the
beleagured garrison. Pray on, beloved ; the Lord
is our Judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord
is our King ; He will save us.

163

When he was in affliction ^ he besought the Lord
his God. 2 Chron. xxxiii. 12.

SO long as this story stands on the page of rev-
elation, no sinner need despair of mercy. There
was hardly a sin possible to man that Manasseh
did not commit. * * He did that which was evil in
the sight of the Lord, like unto the abominations
of the heathen, whom the Lord had cast out be-
fore the children of Israel." And he made his
people do worse than the heathen.

Then came awful sorrow. Bound in fetters,
exposed to consummate cruelty and disgrace, he
was carried to Babylon, and thrust into the dun-
geons, where other captive princes were im-
mured, with little chance of liberation or permis-
sion to revisit his native land. But there the
Spirit of God did His work. He humbled him-
self greatly, and prayed. What tears, and cries,
and bursts of heart-broken penitence, were his !
How those walls were saturated with the breath
of confession, and those stone floors indented by
his kneeling at perpetual prayer ! And God
came near to his low dungeon, and graciously
heard his supplication, and brought him back
again.

Yes, and He will do as much for you. The
blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth from all
sin ; the grace of God is exceedingly abundant
with faith and love; all sins and blasphemies
may be forgiven to the sons of men. Turn to Him
with brokenness of soul, and He will not only
forgive, but bring you again ; and give you, as
He did Manasseh, an opportunity of undoing
some of those evil things which have marred your
past. For the rest, it is good not to wait for af-
fliction to stir us up to seek God, but to abide in
Him for love's dear sake.

164

/ have found the book of the law in the house of
the Lord. 2 Chron. xxxiv. 75, iS.

IT is supposed that tliis was the Book of Deu-
teronomy ; though we have no sympathy what-
ever with a modern notion with respect to its
discovery. In our judgment that book is rightly
ascribed to Moses. Apparently, however, it had
long been missing, and the young king was filled
with horror when he heard the list of evils that
were associated with apostasy. "He rent his
clothes."

We should read the Bible with a particular ap-
plication to the days in which we live. It is
well enough to accept its statements as being
generally true and credible ; but it is better to
realize their pertinence to ourselves and our cir-
cumstances. The book of the law had been
sadly neglected in the years preceding Josiah's
accession ; and through the neglect of God's
Word the people had become indifferent to His
commands, and deaf to the appeals of His proph-
ets. Josiah turned the lantern on the evils of
His time, and saw how God was feeling with
respect to them.

The Bible is a book for all time. What it
said, it says. What it was, it is. You tell me it
was written so many centuries ago ; but I reply
the ink is still wet on its immortal pages. They
have been read and pondered by generations;
but the light of its eye is not dim, nor its natural
force abated. Sin is the same, man the same,
God the same, in all ages. And the Bible's
claim to be God's Word is substantiated by the
fact that it is possessed of living power, and of
the same perennial freshness as the sun, or the
spring, or the ocean, or the faces of the little
children. Would that we might daily read it as
we read the newspaper, damp from the press, re-
alizing that it is our Father's great message for
the life of every day !

165

Prepare.
2 Chron. xxxv. 4, 6, 10, 14, i^, 16.

NO great court function can be carried through
successfully, without careful preparation. And
Josiah's passover was so vast and rare a success
because of the large amount of previous prepara-
tion, as is described in this chapter. The priests
and Levites were prepared by careful washings
and ceremonial rites. The course of the sacri-
fices was ordered according to the law of Moses.
The routine of sacred song and praise was also
provided for. Nothing was left to haphazard or
chance.

We are taught to rely on the promptings and
inspirations of the Holy Spirit ; and it is certain
that He would use us more on special errands, if
we were to trust and obey Him better. But
these extraordinary ministries should not lead us
to a life of haphazard. We should prepare our-
selves for service so far as we may, laying our
plans, anticipating the calls and exigencies of
coming days, and preparing for the demand
which almost certainly will be made on us. We
may have to give our special words and addresses
and arrangements to the winds; but we shall
always need that preparedness of heart which is
necessary for those who are to be used of God.

Remember what is said of the vessels that were
purged from uncleanness, sanctified, meet for the
Master's use, and prepared unto every good
work. Be always in your own place, clean so far
as you can be, filled with the Holy Ghost, with
the handle of your life turned toward the
Master's hand, that at any moment He may take
hold of you, and use you for His holy service.
By the diligent study of His Word, as well as by
earnest prayer and waiting upon God, you will
be prepared to do His will.

166

Rising up betimes.

2 Chron. xxxvi. /j*.

WHAT a touching and graphic phrase ! How
did God yearn over that sinful and rebellious
city! Sending His messengers, "rising up be-
times, and sending " — like a man who has had a
sleepless night of anxiety for his friend or child,
and rises with the dawn to send a servant on a
mission of inquiry, or a message of love. How
eager God is for men's salvation !

From God's eagerness, may we not learn a
lesson of anxiety for the souls of men ? We do
not long after them enough, or rise betimes to
urge them to repent. Did we realize what
heaven is, or hell, what men are missing or in-
curring, what our duty is, as saved ourselves, we
should rise up betimes to seek their eternal in-
terests.

But if God rises betimes to seek men, should
they not do the same to seek Him? Think you
not, that when Adam heard the voice of the Lord
God walking in the garden at morning prime, he
would be up and away to meet Him on the up-
land lawns of Paradise? Can we wonder that
our Master would rise up a great while before
day, to meet His Father on some unfrequented
height ? Let us not cling to beds of sloth when
God is awaiting us; let us heed His loving re-
monstrances, that we may be saved in the over-
throw of the world ; and let us, like Lot, pass on
the word to others enwrapt in fatal slumber
around us, bidding them to escape to the moun-
tains, before the sun rise on the earth, lest they
be consumed.

It was the practice of Sir Henry Havelock,
during his campaigns in India, always to have
two hours for prayer and Bible study before the
march. If the camp was struck at 6:00 a. m., he
would rise at 4:00.

167

The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus.

Ezra. i. i.

THERE were many rays focused on this spot.
In the first place, it had been definitely foretold
by Jeremiah that the captivity would only last
for seventy years. In the next place, Daniel,
having learned from comparison of dates that the
allotted time had nearly expired, had set himself
to pray. Also, if Josephus be credited, the aged
prophet had shown the young king the predic-
tions of Isaiah in which his own name was clearly
mentioned: "Thus saith the Lord to His
anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have
holden : ... he shall build my city, and he
shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward,
saith the Lord of hosts" (Isa. xlv. i, 13).

God is the fountain-head and source of all
spiritual blessing, and of all those great move-
ments for the uplifting and enlightenment of
mankind which have swept from time to time
over the world. Go to Him when you want to
reach the heart of kings, prophets, and people.
Oh for the faith of Samuel, Elijah, Daniel, and
other stalwart men of God, that through Him we
may stir up the spirits of those who will not lis-
ten to our appeals ! For the fervent prayer of a
righteous man still availeth much. In prayer you
can touch the spring of all the stirrings that the
world needs.

But it is not enough for God to stir men, they
must obey. It appears that only a comparatively
small number of captive Jews obeyed the Divine
stirring and came out of Babylon with the chief
of the fathers. The call resounds for volunteers,
but only a few respond ; the inspiration breathes
over us, but only some are susceptible to it. God
works to will and to do, but only certain of the
children of men work out what He works in.
Whenever there is a Divine stirring abroad, let
us rise up and go.

168

Till there stood up a priest with Urim and with
Thummim. Erza U. 63.

IT must have been a great disappointment to
these people who found themselves excluded from
sharing as priests. Their names were not on the
register, and so they had to wait until a properly-
qualified authority could adjudicate their case.
The mere inference of reason was not enough ;
they needed the direct corroboration of the
anointed priest with Urim and with Thummim.

So in our life it is not enough to rely on the
inference of reason, or to allow our Christian
standing to be determined by the evidence of a
document. We must seek the direct witness and
testimony of the Holy Spirit. How many Chris-
tians there are who have no experimental knowl-
edge of what the Apostle meant when he said
that the Spirit witnesseth with our spirit that we
are born again. They are always referring to in-
ference, and the testimony of others; and there-
fore their consciousness varies, and they cannot
eat of the holy bread of God. But when the
Spirit of God speaks through the Urim and
Thummin, and certifies that we are the children
of God, giving us the white stone with its new
name, and revealing Christ as dwelling within
us, we have, immediately, boldness to enter into
the holiest of all, and eat of the holy things.

Assurance is needful before we dare to appro-
priate the things which are freely given to us of
God. Who of us is not able to verify this from
his personal experience? We could not enjoy
the Father's table, so long as there was a doubt
about our sonship. But the assurance of faith
may be ours as we wait in the presence of our
great High Priest, speaking to us by the Holy
Spirit, who witnesses with our spirits that we are
the children of God.

And they set the altar yp07i its bases.

Ezra Hi. j.

THIS is the first thing that must be done be-
fore our temple-building or other undertakings
can be crowned with success. It was well that
the returned remnant made this their care; it
augured well for their future. The new start
that God Himself was giving would have been
invalidated without that altar, which meant for-
giveness for the past, and renewed consecration
for the future.

Where is the altar in your life ? Where the
burned sacrifice which betokens entire surrender
of consecration ? It cannot be too often insisted
on, that since Christ died for all, all died in Him.
We were not only saved by His death, we were
included in it, but we must appropriate and iden-
tify ourselves with it. We must look up to God
and say, "I desire that this death should be
mine, to the world, to sin, to the flesh ; make it
so by the power of the Holy Ghost, that in Jesus
I may be truly dead unto sin, but alive unto
Thee."

Perhaps that last clause will help some souls
most. Do not perpetually dwell on the dying
side, but think much of the living side. Yield
yourselves to receive God's life, which is the life
of the Son of God in the surrendered nature.
Be very sensitive, and "quick of scent," to
every movement and prompting of the Holy
Spirit. Seek the things which are above, where
Christ, your life, is seated. So you will find
your energy drained away from self to Christ.
Because He lives you will live also. A maple
tree plantea on a barren soil sent out one of its
rootlets to a richer patch not far away, and ulti-
mately all its roothold was there, till finally it
was bodily moved and transferred from its first
position to this more salubrious one.

170

Let us build with you.

Ezra. iv. 2^

AT first the world does its best to intimidate
the Church ; then it asks to be permitted to join
with it. A most subtle temptation this. The
child of God is greatly inclined to yield ; the
proposal seems so harmless, and so likely to be a
means of blessing to the poor, hungry, weary
world. But there is only one condition on which
the world may be admitted ; it must yield a true
and humble submission to the cross, and be will-
ing to give up all for Jesus — conditions which the
world will not consider for a moment; and so its
heart is filled with bitterness and gall, and it sets
itself to hinder where it had professed willing-
ness to help.

There are five things of which we are expressly
bidden to beware — they are five phases of an un-
equal yoke : fellowship with unrighteousness ;
communion with darkness; concord with Belial;
part with an unbeliever; agreement with idols.
Let us beware of these things, and cleanse our-
selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit.
There may seem to be great loss and needless
sacrifice in dispensing with the help of Rehum
and Shimshai ; but if once we accepted their
help, we should discover to our cost that they
were adversaries still, and that their only desire
was to retard our efforts.

We sometimes shrink from some great under-
taking for God, and are inclined to accept the
proffered aid of wealthy but ungodly men. But
their help may be purchased by the cost of all
that makes our work worth doing. ''Be ye not
unequally yoked together with unbelievers ; for
what fellowship hath righteousness with unright-
eousness? "

" Yea, with one mouth, O world, though thou deniest.
Stand thou on that side, for on this am I."

171

The eye of their God was upon the elders of the
Jews. Ezra V. J.

IT was a delightful thought amid obloquy and
opposition, like that which the Jews were at this
moment encountering, to know that God was
watching them with jealous care. We are re-
minded of the words of the Psalmist, quoted and
authenticated by the Apostle Peter, "The eyes of
the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears
open to their cry ; but the face of the Lord is
against them that do evil." And he goes on to
argue, "Who is he that will harm you, if ye be
followers of that which is good?" The Jews
certainly found it so; for the efforts of their
enemies to induce them to desist from their work
of temple-building were rendered nugatory and
ineffectual by the special care exercised over them
by their Almighty Friend.

It may be that you will have to encounter
hatred and opposition in doing God's work ; but
be sure not to look at these things, but steadfastly
to Jesus. Must you not watch the foe? No;
you could not make a greater mistake. You must
look away to the face of Jesus, and you will find
that He, like a good shepherd, is looking care-
fully and lovingly down on you, and watching
the stealthy movements of your foe. Even when
we are not directly conscious of that watchful eye,
it still follows us. He knoweth the way that you
take ; and He is acquainted with the varied cir-
cumstances of your life. He has pledged Him-
self to be with you forever ; as Wordsworth once
said of his beloved daughter Dora : —

« Dear child, fair child, that vvalkest with me here,
Though thou appear untouched by solemn thought,
Thy nature is not therefore less divine;
Thou liest in Abraham's bosom all the year,
Thou worshippest at the temple's inner shrine,
God being with thee when thou knowest not"

172

The Lord had fnade them Joyful, and turned the
heart of the Kmg irnto them. Ezra vL 22.

YES, the hearts of men are in the hands of
God, and He can turn them whither He will.
There are many instances of this in Scripture.
God gave Joseph favor with Pharaoh ; Moses
with the Princess; and Daniel with the King of
Babylon. If certain matters can only be settled
by reference to great men, kings or men of affairs,
make the application ; and then betake yourself
to prayer, believing that as He inclined the heart
of Darius, in the instance before us, so He can
do as He will among the armies of heaven, and
the inhabitants of earth.

That unkind overseer, that vexatious member
of your home-circle, that great man whose help
you so greatly need — these are accessible to
God's Spirit, if only you are intent on seeking His
glory, and doing His will. But you must be able
to show, as these Jews could, that your cause is
identical with the cause of God, before you can
claim, with unwavering faith, His interference on
your behalf.

Then when the answer comes, let us thank
Him, separating ourselves still further from the
filthiness around us, so as to keep the feast with
joy. Do not be afraid of joy ; when God makes
you joyful, do not think it necessary to restrain
your songs or smiles, for fear that an equivalent of
sorrow will presently be meted out as a make-
weight. Our blessed Lord was desirous that His
joy might be in His disciples ; it was for the joy
that was set before Him that He endured the
cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the
right hand of the throne of God ; it is with ex-
ceeding joy that He will present us faultless be-
fore the presence of His glory. " Thou shalt re-
joice in every good thing which the Lord thy
God giveth thee."

173

/ was strengthened f as the hand of the Lord my
God was upon me. Ezra vii. 28.

IT was no small work that the good Ezra had
undertaken. To lead a great expedition across
the inhospitable desert ; to convoy the sacred ves-
sels and a large treasure of gold and silver; to
set magistrates and judges over all that great dis-
trict beyond the river — this was no slight task,
and he needed strength. But in the simple
language of his heart the good hand of his God
was upon him, and that was sufficient to nerve
and strengthen him.

It is wonderful what resistless might comes to
the soul, when it realizes that it is treading the
path, and working out the career, determined for
it from all eternity by the Almighty. The
thought imparts the same kind of impulse to the
soul, as the touch of love or authority on the
arm. We are reminded of the veteran, who,
when charged by the Duke of Wellington to take
a difficult position, turned to him and said, **I
will go, sir ; but first give me a grip of your con-
quering hand."

Think, soul, of what that hand is which holds
the waters in its hollow, and spreads the curtains
of the sky, and was nailed to the cross; that
brought blessing with its touch to so many weary
sufferers, and now holds the mysterious book,
sealed with seven seals ; that caught Peter, and
lay lightly on the heads of the little babes. That
hand is strengthening thee for a work for which
by nature thou art unequal, but to which thou
hast been evidently called. Go forward : it
holds, guides, empowers thee. It can lead thee
before kings, princes, and nobles, so that thou
shalt not fear ; it can preserve thee from dangers
innumerable; it can shield thee from the fire of
the enemy; and none, man or devil, can pluck
you out of the Father's hand.

174

Watch ye, and keep them, until ye weigh them at
Jeriisalejn. Ezra viii. 2g,

THEY were protected by God, whose presence
with them across the wild desert made it needless
to ask for an escort of soldiers ; but they had to
take care of the precious vessels of His house. It
was a reciprocal trust. So it must be with us, as
we are taught in 2 Tim. i. 12, 14. There are two
deposits, as the margin shows. We deposit our-
selves, and all we are and have, with God ;
whilst He deposits with us His sacred Gospel, the
vessels of which we must "guard through the
Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us," and be pre-
pared to defend with our blood.

Our deposit with God. — How safe are they
who commit their all to God ! Faraday was
asked, when dying, on what supposition he de-
pended as he contemplated the other world ; and
he replied, " I am relying on no supposition, but
on a certainty ; I know in whom I have believed,
and am persuaded that He is able to keep that
which I have committed to Him."

God's deposit with us. — But let us be true to
our trust. The Holy Bible, the Doctrines of the
Christian Church, the Day of Rest, the House of
God, the ordinances of the Lord's Supper and
Christian Baptism — these are some of the vessels
which have been passed down to us, and we must
hand on intact. Be ye clean that carry them !
Oh, what joy it will be when we reach our des-
tination, and can resign our trust, and weigh out
the deposit, and hear the Master's "Well done ! "
But, in the meanwhile, whilst marching across
the yellow sands, where wild dangers lie in wait,
let us not seek the escort of creature or worldly
might ; but boast of the Hand of our God, which
is for good upon all them that seek Him.

175

The people have not separated themselves.

Ezra ix. i.

THIS was only too true ! There had been, on
the part of princes and rulers, gross intermarriage
with the people of surrounding lands. The holy
seed had become mixed and diluted. And it was
the more sad that this should have taken place,
when it was to cleanse His people from such alli-
ances, and the evils to which they inevitably led,
that God had passed them through the purging
fires of the seventy years' captivity. It afflicted
the good Ezra sorely. With every sign of Ori-
ental grief he poured out his soul before God.
And this is the lesson we should carry with us.
It has been truly said that communion with the
Lord dries many tears, but it starts many more.
We no longer sorrow with the sorrow of the
world ; but we become burdened with some of
the griefs that still rend the heart of the Lord in
the glory.

This fellowship between the Lord's people and
the world is becoming increasingly close as we
near the end of the age. In the appointments of
our homes, our amusements, books, and practices,
there is very little to choose between the one and
the other. If there is any distinction, it lies in a
certain sadness with which Christians take their
pleasures, as though remembering a something
better. But the rest of us do not grieve over it ;
we do not rend our clothes : we do not take these
things to heart, as though they especially con-
cerned us.

Let us at least separate ourselves after the man-
ner of Christ, who frequented the temple, ac-
knowledged the State, accepted invitations to
great houses; but His heart and speech always
revolved about His Father. What if it led to our
being cast out without the camp !

176

We also will be with thee : be of good courage ,
and do it. Ezra X. 4.

THIS narrative reminds us of the story of
Achan, who took of the accursed thing, and kin-
dled the anger of the Lord against the children
of Israel. There must be confession and the
putting away of evil ere communion with God
can be reestablished.

It is not given to every one to be an Ezra.
There are abuses to deal with, and wrongs to
right, on every side ; but they require to be dealt
with by those who are specially adapted or quali-
fied for the work. Be always ready to do such
work, if there should be no one else. It was the
life motto of a great man always to act as though
there were no one else who would. Still, Nehe-
miahs and Ezras are not given very largely to the
Church or the world ; and, for the most part, we
must be content to be of those who say, " Be of
good courage, and do it; we also will be with
thee." But though this seems but a little thing, it
may lead to great results. Many a man has been
urged to a noble deed by the encouragement he
received at a critical hour from some unknown
and obscure disciple.

If you cannot do a great thing, identify your-
self with one who can. Stand by him, identify
yourself with him in public or private, by sympa-
thy and prayer. Though the strongholds of evil
are great and high, they may be swept away be-
fore an avalanche of snowflakes, any one of which
would melt in the warm hand of a child.

Oh for more of that magnanimity, which is
quick to recognize the matters that belong to
certain elect souls — not envying, nor disparaging,
but frankly confessing their eminent qualifica-
tions, and falling in to further and accelerate
their success, which will be the gain of all !

177

/ was the king V cupbearer.

Nek. i. II.

THE post was an important one. It gave its
occupant the opportunity of coming into close
contact with the king; it implied a character of
unusual trustworthiness, since Oriental despots
were very afraid of poison. But no one expected
a royal cupbearer to do anything very heroic.
He lived in the inner part of the palace, and was
necessarily excluded from the great deeds of the
stirring outward world. Nehemiah also was evi-
dently a humble and retiring man. His response
to the story of the ruined condition of Jerusalem
was just a flood of tears and prayer to the God of
heaven. And had you seen those tears and heard
that prayer, you might have thought that just
another flower was drooping, another seed falling
into the ground to die.

But this was not all. These prayers and tears
were supplemented by an earnest purpose, which
was maturing with every hour. He gave himself
to God to be used, if God would have it so, as an
instrument in the execution of His recorded pur-
pose. He was a man of faith. It mattered little
enough that he was only a cupbearer, for that
was no barrier to God ; indeed, God might work
more efficiently through a frail, weak man, than
through the prince, the soldier, or the orator,
since He cannot give His glory to another.
What a glorious faith was his, which dared to be-
lieve that through his yielded life God could
pour His mighty rivers ! Why do we not yield
ourselves in our helplessness to God, and ask
Him to work through us, to fulfill His mighty
purposes ?

" We kneel, how weak ! We rise, how full of power !
Why therefore should we do ourselves this wrong,
Or others — that we are not always strong ! "

178

So I prayed to the God of Heaven.

Neh. it. 4.

ALL around the apartment in which this inter-
view took place were effigies of idol gods : per-
haps incense was burning before a shrine, and
filling the air with its aroma. But Nehemiah,
though standing amid these heathen emblems,
and in the presence of the greatest king on earth,
thought little of either one or the other, and pros-
trated himself in spirit before the throne of
heaven. Remember that thou hast within thee
a shrine, a temple into which at any moment,
even amid the excitement of an earthly court,
thou mayest retire and ask direction of thy King
and Friend.

He had been sorely startled by the king's
question ; he did not know that his face had be-
trayed him. He had, doubtless, intended to
seek an interview with the king, and formally state
the whole case (see i. 11). But to be taken thus
at unawares, to have to state his case on the spur of
the moment, appeared to take him at a great dis-
advantage ; and he instinctively turned to prayer.

How little the king knew what was transpiring,
or what had happened between his question and
the reply which was given, apparently, without
the loss of a moment. But how beautiful is the
example for ourselves 1 You cannot acquire this
habit of ejaculatory prayer unless you spend pro-
longed periods in holy fellowship. But when
you are much with God in private, you will not
find it difficult at any moment to step aside to
ask Him a question. The busy mart or the
crowded street may at any time become the place
of prayer.

" A touch divine
And the scaled eyeball owns the mystic rod;
Visibly through His garden walketh God."

179

Every one over against his house.

Neh. Hi. 28.

THIS is the way to deal with the evil of this
world. We are all fonder of starting schemes,
forming committees, and discussing methods of
work, than in setting definitely to work for our-
selves. There is a lack of definiteness, and we
hardly know where to begin. But this verse sug-
gests that every one should begin over against his
own house. Try and make your own neighbor-
hood a little more like what God would have it.
It may be that you have gone too far afield in
search of work ; you are applying to the Foreign
Missionary Society, or are waiting for a sphere
of service ; yet, all the time, there is that wretched
neighborhood, like a piece of ruined wall before
you. Arise and repair it !

Meshullam repaired over against his chamber
(ver. 30). Perhaps he was not rich enough to
have a whole house ; he lived in a single room,
but he discovered that there was a little bit of the
wall just opposite his window, which would not
be built unless he set to it. Is not that a hint
for college students, and for those who live in
flats, or industrial dwellings?

The best way is not immediately to begin
giving tracts, good though that is in its place.
Ask God to give you an opportunity of showing
kindness to your neighbors, so that they get to
understand and trust you ; and wait upon God
until the answer comes — until He shall show you
what step He would have you take next. This is
the foundation of your bit of wall. Then plod
on step by step, tier by tier. God will show you
how. You may be unpracticed in wall-building ;
but He is the Architect and Builder, and you are
but a bricklayer's laborer at the best. Do as He
tells you.

180

Remember the Lord.

Nek. iv. 14.

IT was uncommonly good, advice. Amid all
the wise precautions taken by this man of sancti-
fied common-sense, he kept bringing the people
back to God. God was amongst them. God
would fight for them. God was going to bring
the counsel of their enemies to nought.

This would make a good motto for daily living.
If in all circumstances we would remember the
Lord, the way would be brightened ; the burdens
would fall; our spirits would never droop; and
songs of joy would take the place of sadness.
Whenever enemies assail and difficulties gather
like storm-clouds, look away from them and re-
member the Lord. When hemmed in on every
side, be sure that He can help you from His holy
lieaven ; remember the Lord. When heart and
flesh fail, and you do not know what to do for
the best, be sure to remember the Lord, and act
as in His most holy presence. What a comfort
and strength it is to see a friend, when standing
amid a crowd of adversaries intent on your
destruction, and to know that he will act and
speak for you ! But remember that Jesus is always
like that.

You say that you forget so soon ; that you
would remember, though at the critical moment
you are betrayed into forgetfulness. But you
must recall His precious promise, that the Holy
Spirit will bring all things to remembrance. If
only you will trust the difficulty into His hands,
you will find that He will gladly undertake it ;
and as long as you leave it with Him, you will
hear His voice rising in your heart, and saying,
** Remember the Lord."

«' Watch with me, Jesus, in my loneliness,
Though others say me Nay, yet say Thou, Yes;
Though others pass me by, stop Thou to bless,"

181

So did not /, because of the fear of God.

Neh. V. 75.

THESE were gi^at words. Nehemiah had a
perfect right to take this money. Not a word
could be said even by his critics, if he did. He
was doing a priceless work, and might justly
claim his maintenance. On the other hand, the
people were very poor, and he would have a
larger influence over them if he were prepared to
stand on their level, and to share with them. It
was just so that the Apostle argued in i Cor. ix.
And from both we learn that often we must
forego our evident rights and liberties in order to
influence others for Christ. Do not always stand
on your rights ; but live for others, making any
sacrifice in order to save some — even as Christ
loved us, and gave Himself for us.

If Nehemiah did so much for the holy fear of
God, what ought not we to do for love? Love is
more inexorable than law. Its exactions are more
stringent and searching. Are we doing as much
for love of Jesus as generations before did simply
on the score of duty? It is much to be ques-
tioned if Jesus does not get less, of outward
service at least, out of his followers, than Ma-
homet or Buddha does. But what He does get
is infinitely sweet to Him, in so far as love
prompts it.

All around yon people are doing things that
they say are perfectly legitimate ; they call you
narrow and bigoted because you do not join with
them ; they are always arguing with you to prove
you are wrong. But your supreme law is your
attitude to your Master. "I cannot do other-
wise for the love of Jesus."

'^ Not /, because of the fear of God.*'

'* Not /, but the grace of God that was with
7?ie.''

" Not I, but Christ liveth in me.''

182

/ am doing a great workf so that I cannot come
down. Neh. vi. J.

IT was a sublime answer. Below was the
Plain of Ono, where Nehemiah's foes awaited
him. Let him once descend into it and he
would become their easy prey ; but he withstood
their fourfold solicitation by considering the
greatness of the work he was doing and the re-
sponsible position he was called to fill. Other-
worldliness is the best cure for worldliness. Those
whose affections are set on things above will have
no difficulty in refusing the appeals of sense. Get
your heart and hands deeply engaged in the
great work of building God's Temple, and you
will be proof to the most flattering proposals ever
made by Madam Bubble.

Oh, children of the Great King, let us pray
that we may know the grandeur of our position
before Him ; the high calling with which we have
been called ; the vast responsibilities with which
we are entrusted ; the great work of cooperating
with God in erecting the city of God. Heirs of
God and joint-heirs with Christ ! Called to sit
with Christ in the Heavenlies ! Risen, ascended,
crowned in Him ! Sitting with Christ, far above
all principality and power ! How can we go
down — down to the world that rejected Him ;
down to the level of the first Adam, from which,
at so great cost, we have been raised ; down to
the quarry from which we were hewn, and the
hole of the pit whence we were digged ! No, it
cannot be ; and as we make our choice, let us
look to the living and ascended Clirist to make it
good. Put your will on His side, and expect that
the energy of the power that raised Him from
the dead will raise and maintain you in union
with Him. For " your life is hid with Christ in
God."

183

// was not found.

Neh. vii, 64.

CERTAIN claimed the maintenance of the
priests, and were challenged to show their name
in the register of the priestly line. In all likeli-
hood they were descended from the sons of
Aaron, but through marriage outside the priestly
clan, and through the fact also of the name of
the mother's father being adopted, their names
were not reckoned in the priestly genealogy;
consequently, their claim for priestly maintenance
and service could not be established.

Is there not something like this still? Men,
who were called to be God's priests, drop out of
the register of those who serve before Him. It
may be they are not sure of their genealogy, and
have lost the assurance of sonship; their spirit is
no longer filled with the blessed co-witness of the
Holy Ghost. God is afar from them, and, being
out of harmony with Him, they are out of sym-
pathy with their fellows. They are, therefore,
rightly put out of the priesthood.

Now trace this matter back to its beginning.
As likely as not you will find it originated in
some worldly alliance. He that will be a friend
of the world is necessarily an enemy with God.
For a mess of pottage Esau loses his birthright.

But all this can be put right. There has arisen
a Priest, who holds the Urim and Thummim in
His hand ; God's own Priest after the order of
Melchizedek. " Wherefore it behoved Him in
all things to be made like unto His brethren, that
He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest
in things pertaining to God." He waits to rein-
state the erring soul, restore it to the priestly of-
fice, and give it priestly food and maintenance.

184

The joy of the Lord is your strength.

Neh. via. lo.

" THE sad heart tires in a mile," is a frequent
proverb. What a difference there is between the
energy of the healthy, joyous licart and the forced
activity of the morbid and depressed one ! The
one leaps to its task, the other creeps to it. The
one discovers its meat and drink in self-sacrifice,
the other limps, and stoops, and crawls. If
you want to be strong for life's work, be sure to
keep a glad heart. But, be equally sure to be
glad with the joy of the Lord. There is a coun-
terfeit of it in the world, of which we must be-
ware— an outward merry-making, jesting, and
mad laughter, which hides an aching and miser-
able heart. Solomon compares the joy of the
world to the crackling of thorns under a pot,
which flare up with great speed, but burn out
before the water in the pot is warm.

Ours must be the joy of the Lord. It begins
with the assurance of forgiveness and acceptance
in the Beloved. It is nourished in trial and trib-
ulation, which veil outward sources of consola-
tion, and lead us to rejoice in God through our
Lord Jesus. It is independent of circumstances,
so that its possessors can sing in the stocks. It
lives not in the gifts of God, but in God Him-
self. It is the fruit of the Spirit, who begets in
us love, joy, peace, long-suffering. Get the Lord
Himself to fill your soul, and joy will be as
natural as the murmur of a brook to its flow.

And such joy will always reveal itself to others.
You will desire to send portions to those for
whom nothing is prepared. Your joy will be
contagious; it will shed its kindly light on sad
and weary hearts. As Rutherford said, we have
a new heaven in the heaven of every soul we
bring there.

185

The seed of Israel separated themselves.

Neh. ix. 2.

THIS is the beginning of the true life. Turn
to the story of creation, and you learn, first, that
God divided the light from the darkness ; next,
the waters of the clouds from those on the earth ;
and next, the seas from the land. It was only
thus that He could effect His purpose of substi-
tuting kosmos for chaos. So, in the development
of the inner life, there must be separation and
judgment ; the discrimination of the false from
the true, the evil from the good. "Separate
Me ... for the work whereunto I have called
them."

When God put His hand to man's highest cul-
ture, He separated Shem from his brethren;
Terah's house from other kindred clans; and
Abraham from his people. What weight this
gave to those solemn words, '*I am the Lord
your God, which have separated you from other
people. And ye shall be holy unto Me ; for I
the Lord am holy, and have severed you from
other people that ye should be Mine " (Lev. xx.
24, 26). It was not that God had no care for
the great world ; but that He desired to concen-
trate His attention on a few, that when they had
fully caught His thought they might pass it on to
mankind.

This accounts for the cry of the Holy Ghost
through the Apostle, " Wherefore come out from
among them, and be ye separate, and touch not
the unclean thing." We must be separate in our
practices, cleansing ourselves from all filthiness
of the flesh and spirit ; in our pursuits, going
with Christ without the camp ; in om pleasures ;
and in onr alliances. " Follow the Christ — the
King ! Live pure ! Speak true ! Right wrong 1
Follow the King ! Else, wherefore born ! "

186

The children of Israel and the children of Levi
shall bring the offering. Neh. x. jg.

IT was about this time that Malachi wrote the
memorable words, * * Bring ye all the tithes into
my storehouse, that there may be meat in my
house ; and prove Me now herewith, saith the
Lord, if I will not pour you out a blessing."
When a people has separated itself to God, there
will be no lack in its house, no failure in its sup-
plies, no lack for its ministers. So with the in-
dividual. All they that had separated them-
selves entered into an oath to charge themselves
yearly for the service of the house of God. Sep-
aration is the negative side of consecration.

How does this touch you, my friend ? What
proportion of your income are you setting apart
for the service of God ? The amount that a man
gives in proportion to his income is a sure test of
the genuineness and depth of his religious life.
The Jew gave about a third of his yearly income
to God ; do we come up to this standard ? Yet
we speak of the Jews with contempt, as hard-
fisted and miserly. These old Jews might set an
example to us newer Christians. How often we
reverse our position from God's ideal 1 He puts
us over His estate that we should send Him all
the produce, after deducting what is necessary
for our maintenance, and that of our families.
But we engross the entire proceeds for ourselves,
sending Him an odd guinea, or half-crown,
when we can easily spare it. Let us see that we
give at least a fixed proportion of our income,
and as much more as we can. Do not forsake
the House of your God ; so shall the heavens be
opened in blessing. "There is that giveth and
yet increaseth ; there is that withholdeth more
than is meet, and it sendeth to poverty."

187

A certain portion should be for the singers,

Neh. xi. 2j.

IT was the king's command, and it was very
right and sensible, because they enlivened and
quickened the life of the entire community. A
mere utilitarian spirit might have refused to main-
tain them, because they did not contribute to the
handicrafts of the community. They only sang
the praises of God ; but they fulfilled a very im-
portant part in the life of the city, and they de-
served the portion which was regularly contrib-
uted to them.

You sometimes feel your life to be compara-
tively useless. You can only say a kind word to
those who are doing the main business of the
world. When the brothers had wrought all day
at the clearing for the farm, their sister Hope
sang through the evening hours to cheer them
and drive away their sense of fatigue. That was
all she could do ; but was she not deserving of
maintenance ? You can only sing your song of
hope, and keep the heart of the toilers sweet and
fresh. You can only get inspiration from God's
heart and pass it on. You can do little but learn
to detect, and translate into music that men love,
the deep undertones of God's creation. But it is
well. You are needed in God's world.

There are invalids, who lie on their back
through weary months and years, that are the in-
spiration of their homes, and to their side the
elders and the children come for counsel and
comfort. Sing on, ye sweet choristers, that alle-
viate our depressions and start our hearts to high
endeavor. Ye that by night, in sleepless hours,
stand in the house of the Lord, praise ye the Lord
when all the busy life of men is hushed ! The
King will see to it that ye do not miss your main-
tenance, your portion day by day.

188

David, the man of God.

Neh. xii. 24, j6, J7, ^j", 4b.

HOW long the influence of David has lingered
over the world, like the afterglow of a sunset !
Mark the characteristic in him which laid the
foundation of his supremacy over the hearts of his
countrymen. He was preeminently "a man of
God." Notwithstanding his terrible fall, his peo-
ple recognized that his salient characteristic was
Godward. Would you be one of God's men ?

(i) Give all to God. — Too many live lives of
piecemeal consecration, giving a bit here and a
bit there, but never all. David surrendered him-
self to do God's will utterly, and in all, and so
became a man after God's own heart. With
what joy God's voice seems to quiver, as He says
"I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man
after Mine own heart, who shall fulfill all My
will" (Acts xiii. 22). Without reserve, holding
nothing back, yield yourself to God, to be, and
do, and suffer His will, whatever it may be.

(2) Take all from God. — "It is not what we
give to Jesus, but what we take from Him, that
makes us strong, helpful, and victorious day by
day." Accept this as a fact, that in Jesus God
has made all His fullness dwell. There is noth-
ing we require, for life or godliness, that is not
stored in Him ; but the terrible loss of our lives
is that we take so little. We have ourselves to
blame if we are poor, and miserable, and blind,
and naked.

(3) Use all for God. — It sometimes appears as
though Christian people were urged to yield them-
selves to God, only that their lives might be more
comfortable. But the supreme and final end in
all surrender must be that His will be done, His
glory promoted, and Himself, magnified whether
in life or death.

189

Remember me^ O my God.

Neh. xiii. 14, 22, 31.

THRICE in this chapter this humble man asks
to be remembered. We cannot think that he ex-
pected to purchase God's favor because of his
sacrifices and endeavors. Of this he was already
assured. But being a redeemed soul, he desired
that his works might come up in remembrance
before God, and secure a reward. There is no
harm in keeping the eye fixed on the reward for
faithful toil in the Lord's service. It was a con-
stant incentive in the life of the great Apostle
that he might so run as to obtain ; so finish his
work that he might win the crown.

Note the three departments of service men-
tioned in this chapter, in connection with which
Nehemiah breathed this petition. He had turned
all Tobiah's household stuff out of the temple, so
that the whole structure should be given up to the
service of God. He had secured the Sabbath
from desecration, so that its holy rest and calm
were preserved intact. And he insisted on the
purity of the holy seed being untainted by foreign
alliances. Consecration to God, the Rest of Faith
in the inner life, and the separation of God's
children from the world, are the counterparts of
these in our own time.

Shall we not humbly set ourselves to seek them
for the professing Church ? Nehemiah was an
ungifted, simple-hearted man, but he was able to
secure them as the instrument and channel of
God's purposes. Why should not God work
through us for the same ends. But, first, let us
see to it that each of these particulars is being
realized in our own personal character and life.
Let every room of the heart be for God ; let no
voice break the inner peace. Then what God
has done for us, we may confidently plead as
within His scheme for others.

190

That every man should hear rule in his own
house. Esther i. 22.

ONE of the prerequisites in choosing a pre-
siding officer in the early Church was that he
should rule well his own house; "for if a man
know not how to rule his own house, how shall
he take care of the Church of God?" (i Tim.
iii. 4, 5).

When a man bears rule as husband and father
in the love of God, there is no issue of com-
mands which conflict with primary obligations ;
rather than that, his authority represents the Di-
vine authority. As Christ received His authority
from the Father, so does a man derive and re-
ceive his from Christ; and in the recognition of
his delegated right and ability to lead, the entire
household becomes well ordered. The relaxation
of the bonds of authority and government in our
homes is one of the saddest symptoms of national
decay, as it is among the predicted signs of the
end (2 Tim. iii. 2, 3).

But, on the other hand, you must show your-
self worthy to lead and rule your home. Your
character must be such as to command respect.
Those whom God has put into your charge re-
quire that you do not use your authority for
selfish or capricious ends. Above all, love is the
source of the truest authority. We count noth-
ing hard or irksome that we do for those we love.
Show love, and you will win love ; and on love
will be built respect, reverence, and obedience.

One of the most eloquent of modern Italians
has said truly: "You can only obtain the exer-
cise of your rights by deserving them, through
your own activity, and your own spirit of love
and sacrifice ! " Christ's golden rule holds good
in every phase of life — "In all things, whatso-
ever ye would that men should do to you, do ye
even so to them."

191

Hadassahy that is, Esther.

Esther it. 7.

THROUGH this one girl-life God was about to
save His people, though He was all the while hid-
den from view. The peculiarity of this book is
that there is no mention of the name of God ; but
there is no book in the Bible more full of the
presence and working of God for His own. His
name is clearly in the water-mark of the paper, if
it do not appear in the print.

We know that the meshes of evil plotting were
laid for the hurt of Israel long before the fatal de-
cree was made for the destruction of the entire
nation ; but here we find that God has begun
His preparations for deliverance long before. In
the beauty of Esther, in the position her uncle
held at court, in the favor she won with the king,
in the discovery through Mordecai of the plot
against the king's life, there are the materials of
a great and Divine deliverance. God was clearly
beforehand to the devil. The angels of light
were on the ground before those of darkness were
marshalled.

It is a sweet thought to carry with us always :
God prepares of His goodness for the poor. He
prepares the good work in which we are to walk,
and the deliverances by which He will succor us
in the hour of need. Do not dread the foe, be
not fearful nor dismayed, as he draws his net
around thee ; God has prepared a way of escape,
so that thou shalt be able to bear it. In the
meanwhile, rest in the Lord, and wait patiently
for Him ; trust in the Lord ; wait for the Lord ;
be silent to the Lord. He is more farseeing, His
plans more far-reaching. His help more certain,
than all the stratagems of evil. God laughs at
them. Into the pit they have dug, thine enemies
shall fall.

192

But Mordecai bowed not.

Esther Hi. 2.

THERE was stern stuff in this old Jew. He
was not going to prostrate himself before one so
haughty and so depraved as Haman, albeit that
he was the king's favorite. To be the only one
in a city office that does not laugh at the ques-
tionable story ; to stand alone on shipboard
against the gambling mania; to refuse to counte-
nance cleverness which is divorced from clean-
ness, and genius which is apart from goodness —
this is to do as Mordecai did in the gate of the
king's palace.

Only God can give this power, since of our-
selves we are as reeds shaken by the wind. Sooner
might a single ear of wheat resist the breeze that
bends all its companions in the same direction,
than we stand alone, whilst all our associates bow,
unless God Himself enable us. But God is pre-
pared to enable us. Listen: " I will strengthen
thee ; yea, I will help thee ; yea, I will uphold
thee with the right hand of My righteousness."
But the mistake we are so apt to make is to brace
ourselves up by resolution and firm determination,
in anticipation of some impending struggle. To
do this is to fail. Live in Christ, look up into
His face, derive from Him strength for the mo-
ment and at the moment ; and often wrap about
thee that exceeding great and precious promise,
" I will make him to become a pillar in the tem-
ple of my God ; and he shall go no more out ;
and I will write on him the name of my God."
Oh to stand pillar-like amid men, bearing up the
temple arch of truth, and inscribed with God's
name, whilst the crowds go and come on the
pavement beneath !

" Greatly begin ! though thou have time
But for a line, be that sublime —
Not Failure, but low aim, is Crime ! "

193

JV/w knoweth whether thou art come to the King-
dom for such a time as this ? Esther iv. 14.

WHAT grand faith was here 1 Mordecai was
in God's secrets, and was assured that deliverance
and enlargement would come to his people from
some quarter — if not from Esther, then from some
other; but he was extremely anxious that she
should not miss the honor of being her people's
emancipator. Therefore he suggested that she
had come to her high position for this very pur-
pose.

We none of us know, at the first, God's reasons
for bringing us into positions of honor and trust.
Why is that young girl suddenly made mistress
over that household ? Why is that youth taken
from the ranks of the working-people, and placed
over that great City church ? Why is that man
put forward in his business, so that he is the head
of the firm in which he served as an office-boy ?
All these are parts of the Divine plan. God has
brought them to the Kingdom that He may work
out through them some great purpose of salvation.
They have the option, however, to serve it or
not. They may use their position for themselves,
for their own emolument and enjoyment, they
may surround themselves with strong fortifications
against misfortune; but in that case they court
destruction. Their position and wealth may
vanish as suddenly as it came; or ill-health and
disaster may incapacitate them.

If, on the other hand, all is used for God,
though at the risk of perishing — for it seemed to
Esther as though the action to which Mordecai
urged her meant that — the issue is blessed. Those
that love their lives lose them ; those that are
prepared to forfeit them keep them. The wheat
grain which is buried in the soil bears much fruit.

194

The King held out to Esther the golden sceptre
that was in his ha fid. Esther v. 2.

WHAT a beautiful type this is for each of us
in our approaches to God !

For the repentatit sinner. — You may have
said with Esther, " I will go into the king's pres-
ence, and if 1 perish, I perish." But it is impos-
sible for you to perish. None ever perished at
the footstool of mercy. God is faithful to His
promises, and just to His Son ; and He can do
no other — He wants to do no other — than for-
give. As you stand amid the throng that sur-
rounds His throne. He will espy you, and accept
you graciously, because of the God -Man who sits
at His right hand, and ever lives to intercede. In
His name you may come boldly and obtain mercy.

For the supplia7it. — You have a great boon to
ask for yourself, or another. The King's court
stands open ; enter and lodge your petition. He
will be very gracious at the voice of your cry:
the golden sceptre extended, His word passed,
that He will answer with the whole resources of
His kingdom. The answer may not come at
once, or in the way you expected ; but no true
suppliant was ever turned away without his com-
plaint or cause being graciously considered, and
in the best way met and adjusted.

For the Christian worker. — Surely Esther
represents a Paul prepared to be himself accursed,
a Luther, a Brainerd. It is a lovely sight when
the child of God is so oppressed with the burden
of other souls as to sacrifice all else in order to
plead their cause. Surely such find favor with
God ; they are kindred spirits with His own, and
He bids them share His throne. ^God will do
anything for those who are consumed by His own
redemptive purpose.

195

As thou hast said^ do even so to Mordecai the
Jew. Esther vi. lo.

HERE indeed was a turning of the tables !
Haman doing honor to the humble Jew, who re-
fused to do honor to himself. Surely that day
the old refrain must have rung through Mordecai's
heart: — "He raiseth up the poor out of the
dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill,
to set them among princes, and to make them in-
herit the throne of glory : for the pillars of the
earth are the Lord's." And there was an an-
ticipation of yet other words : — " For thou hast a
little strength, and hast kept My word, and hast
not denied My name : behold, I will make them
come and worship before thy feet, and to know
that I have loved thee."

How evidently God was working for His child.
The gallows, indeed, was being prepared, but it
would be used for Haman; whilst the triumph
that Haman thought to be preparing for himself
was to be used for Mordecai.

This is not an isolated case. Any one who has
lived a few years in the world and has observed
the ways of God could duplicate it with instances
that have come under his own notice. Dr.
Gordon told us once of a church in Boston that
would not admit colored people ; and after a few
years it broke up, and the edifice is now occupied
by a flourishing colored church.

Trust on, beloved friend, amid scorn, hate, and
threatening death. So long as thy cause is God's,
it must prevail. He will vindicate thee. Them
that honor Him He will honor ; whilst those that
despise Him shall be lightly esteemed.

" Though the mills of God grind slowly,
Yet they grind exceeding small ;
Though with patience He stands waiting,
With exactness grinds He all."

196

What is thy petition, atid it shall be granted theg *
and what is thy request ? Esther

■ Vll.

AMID the sensual conceptions of marriage that
obtained in this heathen empire there was doubt-
less a consciousness in the king's breast of the
essential unity between himself and his beautiful
queen. She was his better self, and in her plead-
ing he heard the voice of his own higher nature.
To nothing less than this could he have made so
far-reaching a promise. It was not so much
Ahasuerus pledging himself to Esther, as Ahasu-
erus, Jhe king, awakening to the appeal of a
nobler Ahasuerus, for the most part buried.
Such is the power of a pure and noble character
awakening a nobler life. Will you try by your
unselfishness and purity to awaken those around
you to see and follow an ideal, which shall
presently assume the form of the living Christ?

In these words of the king we are reminded
that God is willing to do beyond what we ask or
think. Not to the half of His kingdom, but to
the whole extent of it, has God pledged Him-
self, "according to the power that worketh in
us." But our prayer must be in the name, or
nature, of Christ; that is, the nature of Christ
must pray in us, and God must recognize Him-
self come back through the circle of our inter-
cession to Himself. The Spirit must make inter-
cession in us, according to the will of God.
When the unselfish, lovely, and holy nature of
Jesus pleads in us by the Holy Ghost, there is
nothing that God will not do for us, even to the
whole of His kingdom.

"If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in
you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be
done unto you."

* • Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My
name He will give it you."

197

Sealed with the king's ring.

Esther viii. 8.

IN chap. iii. lo the king took the ring from
his hand, and gave it to Haman. It is evident
that he had resumed it from his chief officer's
finger before sending him to execution. It was
now entrusted to Mordecai, because it gave
validity to the documents that proclaimed liberty
to the Jews. Notice those words : " The writing
which is written in the king's name, and sealed
with the king's seal, no man may reverse," and
apply them to that sealing with the Holy Ghost,
of which we read so often in the New Testa-
ment.

On the molten wax the ring, with its royal
device, or perhaps the cutting of the royal pro-
file, was pressed, giving sanction, validity, and
irreversibleness ; so on the tender heart of the be-
liever in Christ, the Holy Spirit impresses the
likeness of Jesus. The seal does not leave an
impression of itself, but of the sovereign ; and
the Holy Spirit reveals not Himself, but Christ
Jesus the Lord, and aims only to leave the mark
and superscription of Christ on the character.
The word character is used in Hebrews i. 3 (see
Greek). How wonderful, that as the image or
character of the Father was impressed on Christ,
so the Saviour's image and character are im-
pressed on us ! ** Him hath God the Father
sealed," says the evangelist. "Grieve not the
Holy Spirit of God, by whom ye were sealed,"
says the Apostle.

This sealing us with the likeness of Jesus is
God's attestation. It is His witness that we are
born from above, and are become His sons and
daughters. It is God's sign manual of His inten-
tion and decree that we should inherit an irre-
versible portion ; and when God has once
passed and sealed it, neither man nor devil can
reverse it.

198

The Jews had rule over them that hated them,

Esther ix. i.

YES, my reader, a similar reversal awaits us in
the near future ! Now, the god of this world and
his followers bear rule over us, and work their
way with the servants of God. They butcher
them like sheep, and scatter the ashes of their
homes to the winds; and sometimes it seems as
though God had forgotten to avenge the cause of
His saints. But the hour is coming when the
Almighty will arise on our behalf; and to him
who has patiently kept His works unto the end,
He will give authority over the nations. Listen
to these great words : " Behold, I give of the
synagogue of Satan, of them which say they are
Jews, and they are not, but do lie ; behold, I will
make them to come and worship before thy feet,
and to know that I have loved thee." Words
more applicable to the case of the Jews in the
days of Mordecai, and to the history of the
Church, it would be impossible to find.

But mark a notable distinction. In the case
of the enemies of the Jewish people, there was no
quarter. Destruction and death were meted to
those who had breathed out persecution and
slaughter. But in the case of Christ and His
Church, power is viewed only as an opportunity
of securing salvation and life. The Saviour said,
after His resurrection, "All power is given unto
Me in heaven and on earth ; go ye, therefore, and
make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them
into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Ghost : and lo, I am with you
alway." And the Church says, as through
suffering she passes to the right hand of power,
" Lay not this sin to their charge ; but out of our
persecutors raise apostles to carry the Gospel to
the confines of the earth."

199

Seeking the good of his people, and speaking peace
to all his seed. Esther x. j (r, v.).

THIS epitaph on the life of a simple-minded,
true-hearted man, might be yours also. Why
should you not from this moment adopt these
twin characteristics? Go about the world j^^/^-
ing the good of people. It does not always mean
that you should give them a tract, or a little
book. It is much easier to do this than to sacri-
fice your own good in order to seek theirs. You
may be quite sure that some little act of self-sacri-
fice or thoughtfulness for a weary mother, or cry-
ing child, for a sick friend, or for some person
who is always maligning and injuring you, would
do a great deal in the way of preparing an en-
trance for the Gospel message. It is thus that
the genial spring loosens the earth and prepares
the way for the germination of multitudinous life.
Count the day lost in which you have not sought
to promote the good of some one. Adopt as your
own the pious Quaker's motto, *' Do all the good
you can, to all the people you can, in all the ways
you can."

Speak peace to people. — Soothe agitated and
irritated souls. Throw oil on troubled waters.
There are worried and anxious hearts all
around us; a word of sympathy and earnest
prayer witl> them will often remove the heavy
load, and smooth out the wrinkles of care. Let
the law of kindness be on your lip. Do not say
sharp or unkind things of the absent, or allow
your lips to utter words that will lead to bitter-
ness or wrath. Seek peace and pursue it. And
in order to this, let the peace of God that passeth
all understanding keep your mind and heart.

«' Come, my belovM ! We will haste and go
To those pale faces of our fellow men !
Our loving hearts, burning with summer-fire.
Shall cast a glow upon their pallidness."

^00

Job saidy It may be that my sons have sinned and
renounced God in their hearts. Job z. j (r, v.).

TIMES of festivity are always full of tempta-
tion. The loins are relaxed, the girdle of the
soul is loosed. Amid the general hilarity and
the passing of the merry joke, words are said and
thoughts permitted which are not always con-
sistent with the character of God and His glorious
kingdom and service. Job was not wrong, there-
fore, in supposing that his children might have
contracted some defiling stain.

It is necessary for some of us to move in so-
ciety, and to attend festive gatherings. As the
Lord went to the wedding feast, and accepted
Simon's invitation, so must we. The sphere of
our life lies necessarily in the world. But when
we are entering scenes of recreation and pleasure
we should be more than ever careful to put on
our armor, and by previous meditation and prayer
prepare ourselves for the inevitable temptation;
and when it is all over, and the lights are down,
we should quietly review our behavior under the
light that streams from the Word of God. If we
then are made aware of frivolous or uncharitable
words, of jealousy because others have outshone
us, or of pride at the splendor of our dress and
the brilliance of our talk, we must confess it, and
obtain forgiveness and restoration.

What a beautiful example is furnished by Job
to Christian parents ! When your girls are going
among strangers, and your boys into the great
ways of the world, and you are unable to impose
your will upon them, as in the days of childhood,
you can yet pray for them, casting over them the
shield of intercession, with strong cryings and
tears. They are beyond your reach ; but by
faith you can move the arm of God on their be-
half.

201

A perfect and an upright man.

Job a. 3.

EVEN God spoke of Job as perfect. Not that
he was absolutely so, as judged by the perfect
standard of eternity, but as judged by the stand-
ard of his own light and knowledge. He was
living up to all the requirenaents of God and man,
so far as he understood them. His whole bei p.g
was open and obedient to the Divine impulses.
So far as he knew there was no cause of contro-
versy in heart or life. Probably he could have
adopted the words of the Apostle, " I know noth-
ing against myself." He exercised himself to
have always a conscience void of offence toward
God and man.

Satan suggested that his goodness was pure
selfishness ; that it paid him well to be as he was,
because God had hedged him around and blessed
his substance. This malignant suggestion was at
once dealt with by the Almighty Vindicator of
the saints. It was as if God said, **I give thee
permission to deprive him of all those favoring
conditions, for the sake of which thou sayest he
is bribed to goodness ; and it shall be seen that
his integrity is rooted deep down in the work of
My grace upon his heart."

But the book goes on to show that God desired
to teach Job that there were flaws and blemishes
in his character which could only be seen by
comparing it with the more perfect glory of His
own Divine nature. His friends sought to prove
him faulty, and failed ; God revealed Himself,
and he cried, ''Behold, I am vile, and abhor
myself, and repent in dust and ashes."

How often God takes away our consolations,
that we may only love Him for Himself; and re-
veals our sinfulness, that we may better appreci-
ate the completeness of His salvation !

302

Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day.

Job Hi. I.

THAT is the day of his birth. Probably there
have been hours in the majority of lives in which
men have wished that they had never been born.
When they have stood beside the wreck of all
earthly hope, or entered the garden of the grave,
they have cried, " Why died I not from the
birth! " The reason for this is, that the heart
has been so occupied with the transient and
earthly, that it has lost sight of the unseen and
eternal; and in finding itself deprived of the
former, it has thought that there was nothing left
to live for.

One of the greatest tests of true religion is in
bearing suffering. At such a time we are apt, if
we are professing Christians, to exert a certain
constraint over ourselves, and bear ourselves he-
roically. We have read of people in like circum-
stances who have not shed a tear or uttered a
complaining word, because they have braced
themselves to a Christian stoicism. " I am sure
you cannot find fault with my behavior," said
one such to me. And yet beneath the correct
exterior there may be the pride and haughtiness
of an altogether unsubdued self.

There is a more excellent way : to humble
oneself under the mighty hand of God ; to search
the heart for any dross that needs to be burned
out ; to resign oneself to the will of the Father;
to endeavor to learn the lesson in the black-let-
tered book ; to seek to manifest the specific grace
for which the trial calls ; to be very tender and
thoughtful for others; to live deeper down.

« Nearer, my God to Thee ! — Nearer to Thee !
E'en though it be a cross that raiseth me,
Still all my song shall be — Nearer, my God, to Thee !
Nearer to Thee ! "

203

But 710W it is come unto thecj and thou faintest.

Job iv. ^ (R. v.).

IT is much easier to counsel others in their
trouble than to bear it ourselves. Full often the
soul, which has poured floods of consolation on
others, feels sadly in need of a touch, a voice, a
sympathizing companion, as the chill waters be-
gin to rise toward the knees,and the shadow of
the great eclipse falls around. The fact of our
having consoled so many others seems at such a
moment to leave us the more solitary and lone-
some. People have been so wont to be helped
by us that they hardly dare approach us ; besides,
they suppose that all the fund of comfort from
which we have succored others must be now
available for us. What can they say that we have
not said a hundred times? and if we have said it,
of course we must know all about it ; but they do
not know how wistful the heart is to hear it said
to us with the accent of a sympathetic voice ai-d
the touch of a ministering hand.

Ah, it will come unto thee at last. The pain
and sorrow of life will find thee out. The arrow
will at last fix itself quivering in thy heart. How
wilt thou do then? Thou wilt faint unless thy
words have sprung from a living experience of
the love and presence of Jesus. Thou must have
a better hope than " the integrity of thy ways,"
as suggested by Eliphaz. But there awaits thee
the personal fellowship of Jesus, a brother born
for the hour of trial. He is the never-failing
Friend, who sticketh closer than a brother. Put
Him and His will and His choice between thee
and thy sorrow, whatever it may be. Hide thee
in His secret place, and under the shadow of His
wings thou shalt enjoy sweet peace.

** Only heaven is better than a walk

With Christ at midnight over moonlit seas."

204

He maketh sore, and btfideth up : he ivou7idethj
and his hands make whole. Job v. i8.

HAS this been your experience lately? Have
you been made sore by the heavy scourge of pain,
and wounded by the nails of the cross ? Do not
look at second causes. Men may have been the
instruments, but God is the Agent. The cup has
been presented by a Judas, but the Father per-
mitted it ; and it is therefore the cup that the
Father hath given you to drink. Shall you not
drink it ? How much He must love you, to dare
to inflict this awful discipline, which makes your
love and trust, that He values so infinitely, trem-
ble in the scale ! " Despise not thou the chasten-
ing of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked
of Him ; for whom the Lord loveth He chasten-
eth, and scourgeth every son whom He re-
ceiveth."

But do not look back on what you have suf-
fered ; look on and up ! As surely as He has
made sore. He will bind up ; as soon as He has
wounded. His hands will begin to make whole.
Consider the reparative processes of nature. So
soon as the unsightly ruin or chasm yawns, na-
ture begins to weave her rich festoons, to cover
it with moss and lichen ; let the flesh be punc-
tured or lacerated, the blood begins to pour out
the protoplastic matter to be woven into a new
fabric. So when the heart seems bleeding its
life away, God is at work binding up and heal-
ing. Think of those dear and tender hands, that
fashioned the heavens, and touched the eyeballs
of the blind, as laid upon you to make you whole.
Trust Him ; He loves infinitely, and will suffer
none that trust in Him to be desolate.

We must be careful, however, that nothing on
our part shall hinder the life of the Son of God
from flowing through us, as the sap of the vine
througli every branch.

205

As a brook f as the channel of brooks that pass
away. Job vi. /j (r. v.).

JOB complains of his three friends. He was
glad when they first came to his side, as likely to
yield him comfort in his sore distress. Instead
of this, however, they began probing his heart
and searching his life, to find the secret sin on
account of which his heavy troubles had befallen
him. Their philosophy was at fault. They held
that special misfortune is always the result of
special sin ; and since there was nothing in Job's
outward conduct to account for his awful suffer-
ings, they felt that he was hiding some secret de-
fection, which they urged him to confess. Job
felt that in all this they cruelly misunderstood
him, and compares them in these words to one
of the desert streams that are choked with ice and
snow in the time of the winter rains, but dwindle
and dry up on the first approach of summer.
And when the weary caravans come to their
banks, lo, their bed is a mere heap of stones.
'* They come thither and are confounded."

Is it not so with human friendships ? We
hoped that they would quench the raging thirst
of our souls; this hope increases when they draw
nigh us in days of sorrow ; but how often they
fail us — stones for bread, scorpions for fish, and
scorching pebbles instead of water-brooks. How
great a contrast to the love and friendship of
Jesus ! Not like a brook that dries in the time
of drought, but like a well of water springing up
within the heart forever. He does not merely
give consolation and sympathy, but He is what
He gives. He imparts Himself. His promise
chases away our fears as His Spirit reminds us of
the words, " I will never leave thee, nor forsake
thee." Nothing gives Him greater joy than to
be the perfect circle of which earth's friendships
are broken arcs.

206

What is man . . . that thou shouldest visit him
every morning ? Job vii. 17, 18.

GOD visits us with mercy every morning. Be-
fore we are awake He is at work in the world,
baptizing it with dew, feeding the birds and wild
things, taking pleasure in the jasmine and helio-
trope, the honeysuckle, and the rose ; and with
all His care for His world, He does not forget
man, whom He has placed there to be its tenant.
There is no life so mean and abject, so suffering
and wretched, that He does not visit in order to
comfort and relieve it. No heart so forlorn that
He does not knock at the door : no window so
selfishly curtained and shuttered, at which He
does not tap. ''Open to Me ! " the heavenly
visitor entreats, "my love, my dove, my
spouse ! " Alas for us ! that we keep the doors
and windows closed to Him — as the poor widow
to a beneficent friend, who called to relieve her,
but she mistook him for the rent-collector.

But probably Job meant that God visits us in
discipline, training, education. He is the
watcher of men ; not to detect their failures, but
to discover opportunities of leading them on to
richer, fuller experiences of His grace and life.
Surely, as we consider all the time and pains
which God has expended on us, we too may cry,
with the patriarch, "What is man?" Man is
more than we guess, else God would never take
such time and pains with him. When a lapidary
spends years over a single diamond, the most
careless observer begins to appraise properly its
intrinsic value.

Every morning God visits thee, with holy
thoughts and warnings, with miracles and para-
bles, with anticipations and forecasts — oh, realize
how much thou art to Him : give Him love for
love, thanks and loving recognition, a child's
welcome and trust.

207

If thoji wert pure and upright, surely now He
would awake for thee. Job. vUi. 6.

SO Bildad spoke, suggesting that Job was not
pure and upright, since God did not appear to
deliver him. The premises from which he argued
were that God always delivers and prospers pure
and upright men, and that therefore, if a man
were not delivered and prospered, lie was proved
to be neither pure nor upright. The fallacy lay
in the premiss. It is not universally true that
God delivers His saints from adverse circum-
stances, or prospers them with outward good.
There have been in all ages thousands of devoted
servants of God who have been destitute, afflicted,
and tormented ; and there are thousands of such
to-day in prisons, in hospital wards, in every
condition of privation and trial; but in none of
these cases can there be the least imputation on
the love and righteousness of God, nor neces-
sarily on their fidelity and goodness.

God's arrangements for us are not governed by
the superficial philosophy which would make ma-
terial prosperity a sign of His favor, and adver-
sity of His displeasure. There are many consid-
erations beside. Our privations in the outward
strengthen and ripen the inward. As the out-
ward man decays, the inward is renewed day by
day. We have to learn and manifest those pas-
sive virtues which can only mature in silence and
sorrow. We must be taught to be largely inde-
pendent of circumstances, and to find in God
Himself the springs of unfailing supply. We
must learn to carry the sentence of death in our-
selves, that we may not trust in ourselves, but in
the living God. We have to suffer with and for
others. All these things worketh God with us to
make us partakers of His holiness. But amid all
our sorrows, He is always awake for us.

d08

Yet wilt thou plunge me in the ditch y and mine
own clothes shall abhor 7ne. Job ix. ji.

WE shall never get beyond the need of using
daily the Lord's prayer. He has bound by the
conjunction and the prayer for forgiveness with
that for daily bread, as though to teach us that
we shall need the one as long as we need the
other. At the end of the best day that we ever
spent, when we are not aware of having con-
sciously sinned in act, or speech, or thought, we
shall still have need of the precious blood. We
may know nothing against ourselves, yet we shall
not be thereby justified ; because He that judgeth
us is our holy Lord, and the standard by which
we are judged is His own perfect character. A
piece of cambric looks extremely fine to the eye,
but how coarse to the microscope ! Sheep look
white against the dark ground of the early spring;
but how dark if there should be a fall of snow !
Our characters seem stainless, only because we
compare ourselves with ourselves, or with others.

But, when our eyes are opened to see God, to
behold the whiteness of the great white throne,
and we stand in the searching light of heaven,
we are as those who have just emerged from a
ditch. I heard the other day of a woman being
proud of having lived without sin for ten years !
So we deceive ourselves. No, at the best we are
sinful men and women, needing constant cleans-
ing; even though we maybe kept from known
sin by the grace of Christ. It was at an advanced
period in the life of the great Apostle, and when
he lived nearest God, that he realized himself to
be the chief of sinners.

«• I know not what I am, but only know

I have had glimpses tongue may never speak :
No more I balance human joy and woe,

But think of my transgressions, and am meek."

209

The land of darkness and the shadow of death.

Job X. 21.

THIS represented the higliest thinking of that
age about the future. There were gleams now
and again of something more; but they were fit-
ful and uncertain, soon overtaken by dark and
sad forebodings. How different to our happy
condition, for whom death is abolished, whilst
life and immortality have been brought to light !
The patriarch called the present life Day, and
the future Night. We know that in comparison
the present is Night, and the future Day. ''The
night is far spent, the day is at hand ; let us put
on the armor of light."

For us, too, there is something better. We
wait for His Son from heaven ; we look for that
blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our great
God and Saviour Jesus Christ. "As the waters
of the sea are held between two mighty gravita-
tions, the moon now drawing them toward itself,
and the earth drawing them back again, thus
giving the ebbing and flowing tide, by which our
earth is kept clean and healthful, so must the
tides of the soul's affection move perpetually be-
tween the cross of Christ and the coming of
Christ, influenced now by the power of memory
and now by the power of hope." It is said of
the late Dr. Gordon : * ' Hardly a sermon was
preached without allusion to the glorious appear-
ing. Never a day passed in which he did not
prepare himself for it, in which its hastening was
not sought for with prayer." '* Yet a little while
S^Greek, how little! how little!] and He that
shall come will come." The attitude of every
believer should be that of waiting : with loins
girt and lamp burning, let us be ready to meet
our Lord.

" The Best is yet to be,
The, Last for which the First was made."

210

Canst thou by searching find out God?

Job xi. 7.

THERE is but one answer to that question.
No one can. The very angels veil their faces
before the insufferable glory of His face.

The firstborn sons of light
Desire in vain His depths to see;
They cannot reach the mystery,

The length, and breadth, and height.

Do not be surprised, then, if there should be
matters in the Bible, in your own life, and in the
Providential government of the world, which baffle
your thought. Remember you are only a little
child in an infant class, and it is not likely that
you can comprehend the whole system of your
instructor. God would cease to be God to us, if
we by searching could find Him out.

But though we cannot find out God by the
searching of the intellect, we may know Him by
love. " He that loveth, knoweth God ; for God
is Love." There is a way of knowing God,
which is hidden from the wise and prudent, and
revealed to babes. Seek to be strengthened with
might by His Spirit in the inner man. Let Christ
dwell deep in your heart by faith. Take care to
obey all His commandments, and then the Holy
God will come into you, and abide. He will
give you Himself, and you will know Him as a
little child knows its parent, whom it cannot grasp
with its mind, but loves and trusts and knows
with its heart. We cannot find out God by search-
ing, but we can by loving.

We can also find Him in the character and life
of Jesus. He that hath seen Him hath seen the
Father; why then ask to be shown the Father?
" What is Thy name, O mystery of strength and
beauty?" " Shiloh, Rest-Giver," is the deep
response.

211

Doth not the ear try words ^ even as the palate
taste th its meat. JobxH. // (r. v.).

THERE is no appeal from the verdict of our
palate. We know in a moment whether a sub-
stance is sweet or bitter, palatable or disagreeable.
Now, what the taste is to articles of diet, that the
ear is to words, whether of God or man. More
especially we can tell in a moment whether the
fire of inspiration is burning in them. This is
the test which Job proposed to apply to the words
of his friends ; and it would be well for all of us
to apply the same test to Holy Scripture.

The humble student of the Word of God is
sometimes much perplexed and cast down by the
assaults which are made on it by scholars and
teachers, who do not scruple to question the
authorship and authority of large tracts of Scrip-
ture. We cannot vie with these in scholarship,
but the humblest may apply the test of the purged
ear; and it will detect a certain quality in the
Bible which is absent everywhere beside. There
is a tone in the voice of Scripture, which the
child of God must recognize. This is the in-
teresting characteristic in the quotations made in
the New Testament from the Old. All the
writers in the later Revelation detect the voice of
God in the Old ; to them, it is the Divine utter-
ance through holy lips. Hearken, they cry,
"the Holy Ghost saith." God is speaking in
the prophets, as He spake in His Son.

It is one of the characteristics of Christ's sheep
that they know His voice, and follow Him, whilst
they flee from the voice of strangers. Ask that
the Lord may touch your ears, that they may
discern by a swift intuition the voice of the Good
Shepherd from that of strangers; and for grace to
follow immediately He calls you.

212

Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.

Job xiii. 75.

THIS was a noble expression, which has been
appropriated by thousands in every subsequent
age. In every friendship there is a probation,
during which we narrowly watch the actions of
another, as indicating the nature of his soul; but
after awhile we get to such intimate knowledge
and confidence, that we read and know his inner
secret. We have passed from the outer court
into the Holy Place of fellowship. We seem
familiar with every nook and cranny of our
friend's nature. And then it is comparatively
unimportant how he appears to act; we know
him.

So it is in respect of God. At first we know
Him through the testimony of others, and on the
evidence of Scripture; but as time passes, with
its ever-deepening experiences of what God is,
with those opportunities of converse that arise
during years of prayer and communion, we get
to know Him as He is and to trust Him implicitly.
And when that point has been reached and passed,
nothing afterward can greatly move us. Instead
of looking at God from the standpoint of His
acts, we look at His dealings with us and all men
from the standpoint of His heart. Though He
put us on the altar, as Abraham did Isaac, and
take the knife to slay us, we trust Him. If we
die, it is to pass into a richer life. If He seem
to forget and forsake us, it is only in appearance.
His heart is yearning over us more than ever.
God cannot do a thing which is not perfectly lov-
ing and wise and good. Oh to know Him
thus !

" Leaving the final issue in His hands
Whose goodness knows no change, whose love is sure,
Who sees, foresees, who cannot judge amiss."

213

All the days of my warfare would I waity till my
release should come. Job xiv. 14 (r. v.).

THE Lord Jesus has chosen us to be His sol-
diers. We are in the midst of a great campaign :
let us endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus
Christ, and strive above all things to please Him
(2 Tim. ii. 4). Amongst other things, let us be
sure not to entangle ourselves in the affairs of this
life. What purpose could a soldier serve who
insisted on taking all his household goods with
him on the march !

There is no pause in the warfare. We can
never, like Gideon's soldiers, throw ourselves on
the bank and quaff the water at our leisure.
Every bush may hide a sharp-shooter; every
brake an ambuscade. It becomes us to watch and
pray ; to keep on our harness of armor ; to be on
the alert for our Captain's voice. We wrestle
not against flesh and blood, but against the hosts
of wicked spirits in the heavenly places; we need
to be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His
might, and to take unto ourselves the whole armor
of God, that we may be able to withstand in the
evil day, and having done all to stand.

But the release will come at last. When the
soldier has fought the good fight, the time of his
departure will come, and he will go in to receive
the crown which the Lord, the righteous Judge,
shall give in that day. " Come," said the dying
Havelock to his son, "and see how a Christian
can die." Sometimes it demands more of a sol-
dier's courage to wait than to charge. Remember
that long waiting on tlie field at Waterloo, when
the day passed from morning to evening. If you
can do nothing else, 7vait. Be steadfast, immova-
ble : lying still to suffer, to bear, to endure. This is
fighting of the noblest sort.

214

Thou restrainest prayer before God.

Job XV, 4.

JOB'S friends were bent on discovering the
cause of his sufferings in some secret failure and
declension. This is why Eliphaz accused him
so groundlessly. They did not know of those
secret habits of intercession described in the first
chapter. But this charge is eminently true of
some professing Christians.

They restrain private prayer. — The closet
door is too seldom shut behind them, or it is kept
shut for too brief a period. They do not give
themselves time to get into the mid-current of in-
tercession and be borne forward by it whither it
will. The voice of the Holy Spirit is barely
able to assert itself amid the hubbub of voices
within. They are so taken up with speaking of
the Lord, or working for Him, that they slur over
private audiences with Himself.

They restrain social prayer. — Their minister
never sees them in the gatherings for intercession
on behalf of the work of the Church and the
salvation of the lost. They forsake the assemb-
ling of themselves with the saints. Like Thomas,
they are absent from the gathering in the upper
room, and miss the smile of the Lord.

They restrain family prayer. — Surely we
ought to gather at least once a day around the
family altar. Where Abraham pitched his tent
he erected the altar. A prayerless home is apt
to become a worldly and unhappy one. There
is no such keystone to the arch of home-life and
home-love, as the habit of family worship.

How foolish, how short-sighted, how sinful, it
is to restrain prayer ! What wonder that your
soul is famished when you fail to feed it, or im-
poverished when you neglect intercourse with
heaven !

215

/ was at easCt and He brake me asunder.

Job xvi. 12 (R. v.).

THE other day, it was the Lord's Day morn-
ing, two sparrows fell from the leads of my church
into the vestry, which has a lofty glass skylight.
As soon as they had recovered from their astonish-
ment at finding themselves prisoners, they flew up
against this skylight as though to break through
it to the open heaven, and then round and round
the room. They were desperately afraid of my-
self and the verger, whom I had called, not real-
izing that we were as anxious as they to get them
out again into the air. The only thing we could
do to help them was to keep them from alighting
to rest ; so with long brooms and soft missiles we
constantly drove them from every cornice and
picture-frame on which they alighted, till they
fell exhausted, and with panting breasts, to the
ground. Then we captured them and set them
free. They might have said many a time, in the
course of that encounter, " We were at ease, and
they brake us asunder ; they also set up for their
mark." But if they could review that episode
now, they would doubtless see that it was love
which forbade them to rest any where in the vestry,
because it desired to give them their fullest liberty.

So with Job. God would not allow him to
rest in anything short of the best, and therefore
He broke up his nest. Is not this the key to His
dealings with you ? Oh, believe that behind the
perpetual change and displacement of your life
God is leading you into the glorious liberty of His
children !

"Therefore to whom turn I but Thee, the ineffable
Name ?
Builder and Maker Thou of houses not made with hands !
What ? have fear of change from Thee who art ever the
same ?
Doubt that Thy power can fill the heart that Thy power
expands ?
There shall never be one lost good."

216

Yet shall the righteous hold on his way.

Job xvii. g (R. v.).

WHEN the real life of God enters the soul, it
persists there. Genuine religion is shown by its
power of persistence. Anything short of a God-
given faith will sooner or later fail. It may run
well for a time, but its pace will inevitably slacken
till it comes to a stand. The youths faint and
are weary, and the young men utterly fall. The
seed sown on the rock springs up quickly, and as
quickly dies down and perishes. But where there
is the rooting and grounding in God, there is a per-
petuity and persistence which outlives all storms
and survives all resistance.

You shall hold on your y^z.y because Jesus holds
you in His strong hand. He is your Shepherd ;
He has vanquished all your foes, and you shall
never perish.

You shall hold on your way because the Father
has designed through you to glorify His Son; and
there must be no gaps in His crown where jewels
ought to be.

You shall hold on your way because the Holy
Spirit has deigned to make you His residence and
home ; and He is within you the perennial spring
of a holy life.

It is said that there was once a debate in
heaven, as to which kind of life needed most of
God's grace. That of a man who after a lifetime of
gross sins was converted at the eleventh hour, or
of a man that for his whole career had been kept
from destruction. And finally the latter was
agreed to be the most conspicuous miracle. And
there is no doubt that this is so. Yet for this
also shall God's grace avail : and He shall enable
thee to hold on thy way till heaven open to thee.

217

The king of terrors.

Job xviii. 14.

SO the ancients spoke of death. They were
constantly pursued by the dread of the unknown.
Every unpeopled or distant spot was the haunt
and dwelling-place of evil and dreadful objects.
But the grave, and the world beyond, were above
all terrible, and death the King of Terrors, It is
difficult for us, who inherit centuries of Christian
teaching, to realize how dark and fearsome was
all the realm that lay under the dominion of
death and the grave. What a shiver in those
words, King of Terrors !

But for us how vast the contrast ! Jesus has
abolished death, and brought life and immortality
to light. He has gone through the grave, and
come again to assure us that it is the back door
into our Father's house, with its many mansions.
At His girdle hang the keys of death and Hades ;
none can shut the door when He opens it, and
none open when He keeps it shut. He was Him-
self dead ; but He lives forevermore, and comes
to the side of each dying saint to escort him
through the valley to His own bright abode.

There is something better. In the case of im-
mense numbers, who shall be alive and remain
when He comes again, death will be entirely
evaded. " He that liveth and believeth in Him
shall never die." They shall be caught away to
meet the Lord in the air. Suddenly, in the
twinkling of an eye, this mortal shall put on im-
mortality, this corruptible incorruption. At His
coming the grave shall be despoiled of its
treasures, and death shall miss its expected prey.

"O death, where is thy sting! O grave,
where is thy victory ! Thanks be to God which
giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ."

218

I know that my Redeemer liveth.

Job xix. 2J.

THOSE words express the deepest and most
radiant conviction of believing hearts. "He
lives, the great Redeemer lives ! " Man did his
worst; the nail, the cross, the spear, were bitter;
but He liveth ! Death stood over Him as a
vanquished foe; but He liveth! Captain
Sepulchre and his henchman Corruption held
earnest colloquy together about the best method
of detaining Him ; but He liveth ! He ever liveth :
and because He continueth ever He hath an un-
changeable priesthood.

But it is not probable that His words meant all
this to Job. The word translated "Redeemer"
is Goel — the nearest kinsman, sworn to avenge
the wrongs of blood relations. This conception
of the kinsman avenger has been always in vogue
in the East, where the populations are scattered
and migratory, and our system of law impossible.
Beyond the heavens Job thought there lived a
Kinsman, who saw all his sufferings, and pitied,
and would one day appear on earth to vindicate
his innocence and avenge his wrongs. He was
content to leave the case with Him, sure that He
would not fail, as his friends had done.

Beyond the sorrows and anguish of time he
should yet see God ; and he longed to see Him,
that he might learn the secret purpose, which ex-
plained the sorrow of his lot. He had no dread
of that momentous event, since his Goel would be
there to stand beside him.

" Sudden the Worst turns the Best to the brave.

The black minute's at end ! —
And the Elements' rage, the fiend voices that rave,

Shall dwindle, shall blend,
Shall change, shall become, — first a Peace out of Pain,

Then a Light, then thy breast."

219

This is the portion of a wicked man from God.

Job XX. 2g.

REPEATEDLY in reading this book we are
reminded of the strong convictions entertained by
thoughtful men among these Eastern peoples, of
the sure connection between wrongdoing and its
bitter penalty. The friends of the sufferer ex-
press their opinions in cold-blooded and unfeel-
ing words; but we can detect their intense con-
victions beneath all — that special suffering in-
dicates the presence of special sin, and that all
wickedness is sooner or later brought to light and
punished.

We are less able to follow the track of God's
providences in these crowded, hurrying days; but
there can be little doubt of the connection be-
tween wrongdoing and punishment. The law
is immutable. As a man soweth, so shall he also
reap. The triumphing of the wicked is short, and
the joy of the godless but for a moment. He
shall disgorge his wealth ; he shall suck the
poison of asps in the remorse and bitterness of
his soul; the heavens shall reveal his iniquity ;
and his descendants shall seek favor of the poor.
These things are still to be seen among us, in
the rise and fall of proud men and their families.

Let us go into the sanctuary of God, and con-
sider their latter end ; and as we contrast it with
that of the poorest of His children, we shall find
no reason to envy them. Even though no human
tribunal sentence them, they carry the harpoon
in their heart, and sooner or later it will bring
them to a certain and awful doom. It cannot
be otherwise whilst God is God. The psalmist
said :

" I have seen the wicked in great power,
And spreading himself like a green bay tree,
Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not."

220

Shall any teach God knowledge ?

Job xxi. 22.

WE cannot tell God anything He does not
know already. The most fervent and full of our
prayers simply unfold in word all that has been
patent to His loving, pitying eye. This does not
make prayer needless ; on the contrary, it incites
to prayer, since it is pleasant to talk with one
who knows the whole case perfectly ; and it is a
relief to feel that God's answers depend — not on
the information we bring Him, or even on the
specific requests we make, but — on His infinite
and perfect acquaintance with circumstances
and conditions of which we are altogether igno-
rant.

" Your Father knoweth." Quicker than light-
ning is His notice of every transition in your
inner life — of your downsittings and your up-
risings; of every thought in your heart; every
word on your tongue ; of the fretting of that in-
ward cross; of the anguish of that stake in your
flesh ; of the enemy that, like a sword in your
bones, reproaches you with the derisive chal-
lenge. *'Thou compassest my path and my
lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.
For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo,
O Lord, Thou knovvest it altogether." Yes,
He knows it all, and loves you better than you
know.

Do not presume to dictate to Him ; do not
dare to say that some other way would be better,
some other lot more likely to develop your best
self. He knows every track by which to bring
sons to glory ; and that He has chosen this one is
a positive proof that it is llie best, the one most
adapted to your idiosyncrasies and needs. His
ways are higher than your ways, and His
thoughts than your thoughts. You could not
teach Him knowledge, or increase His love —
then trust both.

221

If thou return to the Almighty.

Job xxii. 2j.

THESE words introduce a most exquisite
picture of the blessings consequent on return to
God. Tliey do not fit the case of Job, to whom
they were addressed, because he had not left
God; and they sound strange as coming from
the mouth of Eliphaz. Still they are full of
sublime truth.

There are three conditions. — We must retrace
the steps of our backsliding and wandering lives.
We must put away unrighteousness from our
home-life and business engagements, so that the
tent may be free from idols. We must be con-
tent to lay our most treasured possessions in the
dust at God's feet for Him to deal with as He
pleases.

There are four consequences. — Whatever we
give up for God, we shall find again in Him ; He
shall become our treasure. Prayer shall have
new zest, new success; be full of delight ; become
the interchange of face-to-face fellowship. There
shall be more certainty and permanence in our
decisions and achievements. Our decrees shall
stand, our work shall last, our path shall be
illumined with light. Trouble and trial shall de-
press us for only a brief space, like the passing of
an Atlantic breaker over a lighthouse rock, whilst
a glad relief shall always follow close on disaster.

Let us ask for all this in our daily prayer. O
God, be my precious silver ; give me delight in
Thee ; hear my prayers ; may I decree what Thou
canst establish ; let Thy light shine on my ways ;
lift 77ie up above all my depressions and fears —
that I may stretch out a strong hand to those who
are in trouble.

"Oh strengthen me, that while I stand
Firm on the Rock, and strong in Thee,
I may stretch out a loving hand

To wrestlers with the troubled sea."

222

Oh that I knew where I might find Him ^ that I
might come eve?i to His seat ! Job. xxUi. j.

POOR tempest-driven man, he knew not that
God was intimately near, nearer than breathing.
There was no need for him to go forward and
backward, on the right hand or the left. The
Lord his Gud was nigh him, even in his heart;
for His throie was pitched there on the sands of
the desert, between Job and his pitiless accusers.

Thou needest not speak like this. Thou
knowest where to find Him ; thou canst find the
way to His seat. He is to be found in Jesus,
seated on the mercy-seat; in that room where
thou sittest reading these words; in that railway
train or store. No need to ascend into heaven,
or descend into the abyss. Thou couldst not
be nearer God, if thou wert in heaven. True,
the obscuring vail shall be then removed.

«« And without a screen,
At one burst shall be seen,
The Presence in which we have ever been" ;

but the dropping of the scales from our eyes will
not make us nearer God than we are at this mo-
ment.

Now go to His seat, just in front of thee.
Order thy cause before Him, and argue it. Wait
to know the words with which He shall answer
thee, and understand His reply. Only be sure
that He will not contend against thee with His
great power. Sometimes we are so bewildered
and perplexed that we lose the realizing sense of
God's presence ; but there is no real difference.
God is not really farther away; and nothing
glorifies and pleases Him more than for us to go
on speaking with Him as though we could see His
face, and realize His embrace. Be still for a
moment, and say, reverently and believingly :
Loj God is in this place.
223

Yet a little while, and they are gone.

Job xxiv. 24 (R. v.).

JOB here describes the insecurity of the wicked.
He may have raged against the poor and inno-
cent ; but in a moment he comes down to Sheol,
is hurried to stand before his Maker to receive
his sentence. As he had treated the poor, so he
is treated. As he had devoured the houses of
the innocent, so he is devoured. " How are
they become a desolation in a moment ! They
are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream
when one awaketh ; so, O Lord, when Thou
awakest, Thou shalt despise their image."

For those who fear God there is a greatly con-
trasted lot. They receive a kingdom that cannot
be moved. Zion may be a desolation, and Je-
rusalem a wilderness ; the holy and beautiful
institutions in which their early religious impres-
sions were made may crumble ; but they are
come to the heavenly Jerusalem. The remov-
ing of those things that are capable of being
shaken only makes more apparent those which
cannot be shaken.

Where do you build your nest? In the trees
of this world, that sway in the tempest, or may
be hewn down by the woodman's axe ; or have
you learned to build in the clefts of the Rock of
Ages? Is your treasure in human friendships,
which may change or be cut in twain by the
sharp shears of death ; or is it in the love of God,
the unchangeable and everlasting Lover of souls?
Let us look off from ourselves ; from that diseased
introspection that so confuses and dims our life;
from the old fears that made us tremble and
the old matters of which we must speak no
more. And let us look upward and forward to
that near future, which is so much larger and
better than the past has been, and where we shall
attain more than the heights of our' dreams.

224

Hoiv then can man be Just 7vith God ?

Job XXV. 4 (R, v.).

THIS is the question of the ages. Man knows
that he is as a worm, and worse. For no animal,
however humble, has consciously and determin-
edly broken the law of God, and defiled its na-
ture.

Our first effort is to go about to establish a
righteousness of our own. Repeated failure only
aggravates our misery and chagrin, till we fall
helpless at the foot of Sinai. Our vows are
broken, the law of God lies shivered around us,
the thunders and lightnings make us afraid.
Then God in the Person of Jesus comes to our
help. First, He meets and satisfies the demands
of the broken law, so that it can ask no more.
With His own hands He works out, and brings
in, everlasting righteousness. And finally. He
produces in us that faith by which His finished
work is applied to our conscience and heart.

By the works of the law shall no flesh be justi-
fied in His sight ; for by the law is the knowledge
of sin. But we are justified freely by His grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation.
God is Himself the Justifier of the ungodly.
"Whom He called, them He also justified."
He takes off the filthy garments, and clothes us
in change of raiment.

But the condition is faith. We must believe
in Him who justifieth the ungodly. They who
believe are justified from all things. Being justi-
fied by faith, we have peace with God, through
our Lord Jesus Christ. We are not saved by be-
lieving about His work, but in Himself. The
Greek of John iii. i6 might be rendered, Who-
soever even believeth into Him. The motion of
faith is ever toward the heart of Him who died,
and rose, and lives. Then through our faith the
Spirit produces a holy character.

How S77iall a whisper do we hear of Him I
Job xxvi. 14 (R. v.).

JOB in thought passes through the universe.
Sheol stands for the grave and the unseen v^^orld ;
Abaddon, for Satan, or for the great reservoirs in
which the destructive agencies of creation have
their home. With a marvellous anticipation of
the conclusions of modern science, he speaks of
the world as pendant in space. He passes to the
confines of light and darkness, rides on the wings
of the wind, discourses of the clouds, skims the
mighty surface of the sea. All this, however, he
deems as the outskirts of God's ways. It is but
a whisper compared to the mighty thunder of His
glory and power. If this is a whisper, what must
the thunder be ! If this universe is but a flower
on the meadows of God's life, what must not God
Himself be !

Perhaps we know something more of the thun-
der of His power than Job could, because we
have stood beneath Calvary and seen Jesus die,
and He is the wisdom and power of God ; yea,
we have witnessed the exceeding greatness of His
power, according to the working of the strength
of His might, which He wrought in Christ, when
He raised Him from the dead.

Who of us can fathom or understand the power
of God ? But what a comfort to know that it is
an attribute of His heart. God is not power, but
He is love, and His love throbs through and
commands His power. Be reverent when you
kneel before the great and mighty God ; but be-
lieve that all His power is engaged on the side
of His weakest, neediest child. And more :
cease not to wait upon God until He endue you
with His mighty power, for service and for daily
living. A Nasmyth hammer can break a nut-
shell without crushing or touching the kernel. .

226

My righteousness I hold fast, a7id will not let it
go. Job xxvii. 6.

JOB had an ideal and clung to it. Have you
such ? A vision of what you may be, and, by
the grace of God, will aim at being. Bishop
Westcott says : — ** The vision of the ideal guards
monotony of work from becoming monotony of
life." Bitter indeed is life for those who have
not seen the heavenly vision, or heard the calling
upward of the voice that says, Come up hither.
Any life looks more interesting and attractive
when the light of our ideal falls on it, and we
realize that every yard leads somewhere, and
every step is one nearer the goal. So some one has
suggested that, *' If we cannot realize our ideal,
we may at least idealize our real."

But there are many hindrances, many adverse
influences to combat, many suggestions that we
should let go our ideal. We have so often failed,
slipped where we thought we should stand, limped
where we thought to overcome by wrestling.
The crags are so steep, the encouragement we re-
ceive from fellow climbers so scant, the dis-
suasions and misconstructions — like those Job
had from his friends — so many. But Jesus who
inspired the ideal waits to realize it, if only you
will open your heart and let Him enter. Do
you hunger and thirst? then He will satisfy.
He does not tantalize and disappoint the seeking
soul.

Have we not all, amid life's petty strife,

Some pure ideal of a noble life

That once seemed possible ? It was. And yet

We lost it in this daily jar and fret,

And now live idle in a vague regret.

But still our place is kept, and it will wait,

Ready for us to fill it, soon or late :

No star is ever lost we once have seen —

We always may be what we might have been.

227

The deep sal thy It is not in me : and the sea
saith, It is not with me. Job xxviii. 14 (r. v.).

IN this sublime chapter the holy soul goes in
quest of wisdom, which is the perfect balance of
the moral and intellectual attributes of the soul;
tliat knowledge of God, and life, and truth,
which is only possible when the eyes of the heart
have been enlightened to know ; that radiancy
of spirit which is enlightened and illuminated
with God who is Himself the Light.

In a marvellous description of mining opera-
tions, which would arrest any company of miners
in the world, if read from the Revised Version,
Job declares it is not to be found in the deep.
From one quarter of the universe after another,
he receives the intelligence that it is not there.
God alone has the secret ; He only can commu-
nicate it, or give the disposition to appreciate
and receive.

We must deal with God. Looking away from
every other source of illumination and satisfac-
tion, we must have close and searching fellow-
ship with Him. Dr. Gordon was wont to say
that evangelical faith consists not in a glance
alone, but in a gaze. " We live in a very busy,
perspiring time, when a thousand clamant calls
assail us on every side ; but we must have more
time for visions if we would be well equipped for
our tasks." Let us then turn from the quarters
where we have been accustomed to draw our sup-
plies— broken cisterns, with uncertain and brack-
ish water — and let us come to God, the eternal
source of life and peace. Love and rest we
want. Thy love and rest, oh, give us ! From
men and things ; from the mine, the deep, and
the sea ; from the murmur of human voices, and
the cross-lights of human interests, we come back
to Thee, our Home.

228

Oh that I were as in the months of old !

Job xxix. 2 (R. v.).

WE are irresistibly reminded of Cowper's sad
complaint : —

What peaceful hours I once enjoyed !

How sweet their memory still;
But they have left an aching void

The world can never fill.

We are all prone to think that the earliest days
were the best ; and it is quite possible they were.
But we must carefully distinguish between the
exchange of the freshness and novelty of our first
love for a deepening and maturing love, and the
loss of love. The streamlet may not babble so
cheerily, but there may be more water in the
river. We lose the green Spring, but is it not
better to have the intense light of Autumn in
which the fruits ripen ? There may not be so
much ecstasy, but there may be stronger, deeper
experience. We should not reckon our position
in God's sight by our raptures, and count our-
selves retrograding because they have gone ; there
is something better than rapture : the peace of a
settled understanding and unvarying faith.

Still, if it be really so, that you have left the
old place on the bosom or at the feet of Christ,
that your love is cooling and your spirituality
waning, I beseech thee, get back ! Remember
whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the
first works. Jesus yearns to reinstate thee, and
has permitted this restless longing for the past to
come, that it may be with thee as in the months
of old. Again His lamp shall shine above thy
head, and the secret of the Lord shall be upon
thy tent ; thy steps shall be washed with butter,
and the rock pour out rivers of oil ; thy roots
shall spread to the waters, and the dew shall lie
all night upon thy branch.
229

/ cry unto Thee, and Thou dost ?iot answer me.

Job XXX. 20 (R. v.).

IT may have seemed so to the sufferer ; but
there is not a cry that goes from the anguished
soul which does not ring a bell in the very heart
of God, where the Man of Sorrows waits, touched
with the feeling of our infirmities.

I have sometimes gone to a telephone office,
and have rung the bell, asking to be put in con-
nection with my friend, but it has seemed impos-
sible to get at him ; either he has been engaged
or absent, and one has found oneself speaking to
a stranger, and the voice which replied has been
unfamiliar. Thoroughly disappointed, one turns
away. But this is never the case with God.
And the comfort is, that He is most quick to
succor those whose cry is lowest. As a mother
goes about her work, she is less sensitive to the
trains that thunder past, and the heavy drays,
and tlie laughter of boisterous health, than to the
stifled cry of her little invalid ; and if there could
be one thing more sure than another of awaken-
ing God's immediate response, it would be such
broken cries as pain elicited from Job.

But the answer will come — nay, it is on its
way, timed to arrive in the fourth watch of the
night. Perhaps the delay is the answer, because
the heart needs to be prepared to receive the
great gift when it comes. Perhaps, like the
Syrophenician woman, you have to give Christ
His right place as Lord, and take yours amongst
the dogs. Perhaps the answer is coming all the
time by one door, whilst you are looking for it
through another ; but you cannot and must not
say that God is not answering. All the time you
are crying, the answer is to your hand, awaiting
your appropriation. Go to the post office for the
letter : hasten to the landing-stage for the ship —
it is in.

230

Mine integrity.

Job xxxi. 6.

INTEGRITY is from the Latin word integrita^
wholeness. It means whole-heartedness. It is
interesting in this chapter to see what, in Job's
estimation, it involved.

V. I. Purity in the look.

V. 7. Cleanliness of the hands.

V. 13. Thoiightfulness for domestic servants
and underlings.

V. 16. Justice to the poor and the widow.

V. 17. Willingness to share morsels, and to be
a father to the fatherless.

V. 19, 20. Clothing for the naked.

V. 21. The refusal to depute to others help
which one might render.

V. 24. The heart weaned from the love of
gold.

V. 26. Refusal to turn aside to idols.

V. 29. Inability to rejoice at the destruction of
those who had derided and hated.

V. 33. The frank confession of wrongdoing.

It becomes us, prayerfully, to go over these
items, and use them as the catechism of our soul,
for if this was the standard of character for one
who lived so many centuries before the full reve-
lation of Christ, what should not our standard
be ! How impossible, however, it is to live like
this from without ! We must enshrine within us
the blessed Spirit of God, who alone originates
and maintains that perfect love to God and man
which compared to Job's maxims is as the heart
to the body. Law is given as the expression of
God's will for the regulation of life : but it is im-
possible to keep the law till we have the love ;
and it is impossible to have the love until we
have the Lord Jesus Christ, through the Holy
Ghost.

231

There is a spirit in man, and the breath of the
Almighty giveth understanding, job xxxii. 5 (r. v.).

ELIHU had waited whilst the three elder men
said all that was in their hearts. He now excuses
his youth and demands audience, because so con-
scious that the breath of inspiration had entered
his soul. Wisdom is not with age ; but wherever
the heart is freely open to God, He will make it
wise. We have received not the spirit which is
of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that
we may know,

George Fox tells us that though he read the
Scriptures which spoke of Christ and of God, yet
he knew Him not till He who had the key did
open. " Then the Lord gently led me along and
let me see His love, which was endless and eter-
nal, surpassing all the knowledge that men have
in the natural state, or can get by history or
books. I had not fellowship with any people,
priests or professors, but with Christ, who hath
the key, and opened the door of life and light
unto me. His one message was the necessity of
the Inner Light, the inward witness of the Spirit,
His secret revelations of truth to the soul."

This distinction needs to be deeply pondered.
We have been trying to know God by the intel-
lect, by reading the Bible intellectually, by en-
deavoring to apprehend human systems. There
is, however, a deeper and truer method. " There
is a spirit in man ! " Open your spirit to the
Divine Spirit as you open a window to the sunny
air. Instantly God enters and fills. The Spirit
witnesses with our spirit. The inbreathed life of
God gives us light. We know by intuition, by
fellowship with God, by direct vision, what the
wise of this world could never discover.

If there be with him a messenger ^ an interpreter.

Job xxxiii. 2j.

GOD is greater than man, and by His love
seeks to hold man back from his purpose. Some-
times He comes in the visions of the night; some-
times in pain and sickness. But we are too dull
to understand the inner reason of God's endeav-
ors to deliver us from the brink of destruction,
and therefore we need an interpreter, one among
a thousand, to explain the meaning of His deal-
ings, and to show us the way in which we should
amend our ways. How often has the sick visitor,
the minister, the friend, interpreted God's pur-
pose, enabling us to see light in His light. There
are few higher offices in this world than to act in
this way between God and our fellows.

To perform this function, however, we need to
understand two languages; the one of the throne,
obtained from deep and intimate converse with
our Father, while the other is man's native lan-
guage of pain and sorrow. Each must be spoken
perfectly before we can interpret : —

" And to the height of this great argument
Assert eternal Providence,
And justify the ways of God to man."

But, as Bunyan truly says, the best Interpreter is
the Holy Spirit. As soon as the Pilgrim has
passed the Wicket-gate, he is conducted through
the Interpreter's House by the Interpreter Him-
self. Are you perplexed as to the meaning of
God's Word, the dealings of God's providence,
the mystery of God's moral government? Ask
the Holy Spirit to lead you through chamber
after chamber, unfolding to you the mysteries of
the kingdom of heaven. They are for babes —
for the childlike and pure in heart. He will
show you wondrous things out of His law.

233

He giveth quietness.

Job xxxiv. 2g.

QUIETNESS amid the accusations of Satan.
— 'J'he great accuser points to the stains of our
past lives, by which we have defiled our robes
and those of others; he says that we shall fall
again and again ; he imputes evil motives to our
holiest actions, and detects flaws in our most
sacred services ; he raises so great a hubbub that
we can hardly hear another voice within our
souls. Then the great Intercessor arises and saith,
"The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, the Lord that
hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee ; I have loved
with an everlasting love, I have paid the ransom."
So "He giveth quietness."

Quietness amid the dash of the storm. — We sail
the lake with Him still, and as we reach its
middle waters, far from land, under midnight
skies, suddenly a great storm sweeps down. Earth
and hell seem arrayed against us, and each billow
threatens to overwhelm. Then He arises from
His sleep, and rebukes the winds and the waves ;
His hand waves benediction and repose over the
rage of the tempestuous elements. His voice is
heard above the scream of the wind in the cord-
age and the conflict of the billows. Peace, be
still! Can you not hear it? And there is in-
stantly a great calm. " He giveth quietness."

Quietness amid the loss of inward consolations.
— He sometimes withdraws these, because we
make too much of them. We are tempted to
look at our joy, our ecstasies, our transports, or
our visions, with too great complacency. Then
love, for love's sake, withdraws them. But, by
His grace, He leads us to distinguish between
them and Himself. He draws nigh, and whis-
pers tlie assurance of His presence. Thus an in-
finite calm comes to keep our heart and mind
** He giveth quietness."
234

i

None saith, Where is God my Maker, who gtveth
songs in the night ? Job xxxv. lo.

DO you have sleepless nights, tossing on the
hot pillow, and watching for the first glint of
dawn ? Ask the Divine Spirit to enable you to
fix your thoughts on God, your Maker, and be-
lieve that He can fill those lonely, dreary hours
with song.

Is yours the night of doubt 9 — A holy man tells
us that once as he was sitting by the fire, a great
cloud came over him, and a temptation beset him
to think that all things came by nature; and as
he sat still under it, and let it alone, a living hope
arose in him, and a true voice said, ** There is a
living God who made all things." And imme-
diately the cloud and temptation vanished away,
and life rose over it all. His heart was glad,
and he praised the living God. Was not this a
song in the night?

Is yours the night of bereavement ? — Is it not
often to such God draws near, and assures the
mourner that the Lord had need of its beloved,
and called ''the eager, earnest spirit to stand in
the bright throng of the invisible, liberated, ra-
diant, active, intent on some high mission " ; and
as the thought enters, is there not the beginning
of a song ?

Is yours the night of discouragement and fancied
or actual failure ? — No one understands you,
your friends reproach ; but your Maker draws
nigh, and gives you a song — the song of hope,
the song which is harmonious with the strong,
deep music of His providence. Be ready to sing
the songs that your Maker gives.

" What then ? Shall we sit idly down and say
* The night hath come ; it is no longer day ' ?

Yet as the evening twilight fades away,
The sky is filled with stars, invisible to day.

235

Behold, God is mighty , and despiseth not any.

Job xxxvi, J".

WHAT entrancing assurances are contained
in this and the preceding sentence ! To think
that in all our wayfarings through this world One
that is perfect in knowledge is always with us,
and One that is mighty is pledged to bring us
through ! Nothing could be desired beside.
This makes prayer new. It is a child's confiden-
tial whisper to the One who is attent to the lowest
murmur, who cannot forget, who will not relin-
quish a purpose which He has formed though
years pass, and who is able to do exceeding
abundantly.

It is because God is so great that He despises
none. If He were less than infinite. He might
overlook. The boundlessness of His being has
no ebb, fails of no soul He has made, and is as
much at any one point as if He had no care or
thought beside. In fact, those that man despises
stand the best chance with God. Just because
no one else cares for them, He must ; just because
no one else will help them. He will. This is
necessary to His nature.

When a philanthropist adopts a certain lapsed
section of the community, he does so because no
one else will. It becomes a matter of honor with
him that none of these, outcast by all else,
should miss his help. And God has constituted
Himself Champion, Guardian, and Saviour, of
all who have no help from their fellows. Friend-
less, forlorn, helpless, despised. He recognizes and
meets the claim of their urgent necessity.
Bruised reeds, bits of smoking tow, half-consumed
firebrands, lost sheep, prodigal sons, waifs and
strays, homeless, destitute, neglected — these have
a first claim on the Almightiness of the living
God.

236

Men see not the bright light which is in the clouds.

Job xxxvii. 21.

THE world owes much of its beauty to cloud-
land. The unchanging blue of the Italian sky
hardly compensates for the changefulness and
glory of the clouds. Clouds also are the cisterns
of the rain. Earth would become a wilderness
apart from their ministry. There are clouds in
human life, shadowing, refreshing, and some-
times draping it in blackness of night; but there
is never a cloud without its bright light. *' I do
set my bow in the cloud ! "

If only we could see the clouds from the other
side where they lie in billowy glory, bathed in
the light they intercept, like heaped ranges of
Alps, we should be amazed at their splendid
magnificence. We look at their under side ; but
who shall describe the bright light that bathes
their summits, and searches their valleys, and is
reflected from every pinnacle of their expanse?
Is not every drop drinking in health-giving
qualities, which it will carry to the earth ?

O child of God ! If you could see your sor-
rows and troubles from the other side ; if instead
of looking up at them from earth, you would look
down on them from the heavenly places where
you sit with Christ ; if you knew how they are
reflecting in prismatic beauty before the gaze of
heaven, the bright light of Christ's face — you
would be content that they should cast their deep
shadows over the mountain slopes of existence.
Only remember that clouds are always moving,
and passing before God's cleansing wind.

«* Green pastures are before nie, which yet I have not seen ;
Bright skies will soon be o'er me, where the dark clouds

have been :
My hope I cannot measure, my path of life is free ;
My Saviour hath my treasure, and He will walk with me."

237

Canst thou hind the cluster of the Pleiades 9
Job xxxviii. ji (r. v.).

THE seven stars of the Pleiades always stand
for the sweet influences of spring ; Orion for the
storm and tempest. In this sublime catechism,
Jehovah asks Job if he has any control over the
one or the other. As it is with the year, so with
our life.

There are times when the Pleiades are in the
ascendant. The winter is over and gone, the
time of the singing of birds is come. Doves coo
their love notes in the trees, and the flowers gem
the soil. Days of hope, of radiant light, of
ecstatic joy ! Days in which God seems to be
making a new heaven and a new earth within us !
Days when our Beloved shows Himself through
the lattice-work, and says, *' Come, my be-
loved ! " Oh, tender influences of the Pleiades,
we would that ye might ever stay, filling us with
immortal youth ! When God bids them shine,
no one can bind them. When He gives joy, none
can give sorrow. No mortal man can restrain
the outburst of Nature's spring. You might as
well stay the resurrection of the Son of God and
His saints !

But Orion has his work as well. Storms
come ; the drenching rain veils the landscape ;
the mighty billows are lashed to fury. But all
works for good. The blast in the forest snaps off
dead wood. The rain fills up the wells. Frost
pulverizes the earth. When God binds Orion,
man cannot unloose him; **no weapon that is
formed against thee shall prosper." But when
the Almighty unlooses Orion, like another Sam-
son, he does his work of devastation, before which
we must find refuge in the cleft of the Rock.

** God sendeth sun,
He sendeth shower,
Alike they're needful for the flower."

238

Knowest thou ?

Job xxxix. I.

THE catechism of this chapter is designed to
convince man of his ignorance. How little he
knows of nature ! Even though centuries of in-
vestigation and research have passed, there are
still many questions which baffle us. And if we
know so liulc of the Creator's handiwork, how
much less do we know of Himself, or the princi-
ples on which He acts !

The knowledge of God is not intellectual, but
moral and spiritual. Things which eye saw not,
and ear heard not, are made known to Love and
Obedience. Let the Love of God be shed
through the heart, and the will of God be the
ruling principle of life, and there will be given
a knowledge of God which the research of the
investigator could never gain. " We have re-
ceived, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit
which is of God, that we might know the things
that are freely given us of God . . . they
are spiritually discerned." Knowest thou ?

Dost thou know the exceeding greatness of His
power, which He wrought in the Resurrection of
thy Lord — that it is all around thee waiting to
do as much for thee also ; lifting thee, dead
weiglit as thou art, to sit in the heavenlies ?

Dost thou know the hope of His calling to a
life within the vail, with the vail behind thee,
and the light of the Shekinah ever on thy face?

Dost thou know the riches of His glorious in-
dwelling, that He is prepared so to infill thee,
that thou shalt partake of the very life where-
with He liveth and reigneth evermore ?

Dost thou know the length, and breadth, and
depth, and height, of the love that passeth knowl-
edge; and Christ Jesus the Lord?

239

/ am of small account ; what shalt I answer
Thee ? I lay mine hand upon my mouth. Job xl. 4.

WHAT a different tone is here ! This is he
who so vehemently protested his innocence, and
defended himself against the attacks of his ac-
cusers. The Master is come, and the servant
who had contended with his fellows takes a lowly
place of humility and silence.

The first step in the noblest life, possible to
any of us, is to learn and say that we are of small
account. We may learn it by successive and per-
petual failures which abash and confound us. It
is better to learn it by seeing the light of God
rise in majesty above the loftiest of earth's moun-
tains. " When I was young," said Gounod to a
friend, " I used to talk of * I and Mozart.' Later
I said, 'Mozart and I.' But now I only say
'Mozart.'" Substitute God, and you have the
true story of many a soul.

The next step is to choke back words, and lay
the hand on the mouth. Silence and meditation !
Not arguing or contending ! Not complaining or
murmuring ! Not cavilling or criticising ! But
just being still — still, that you may feel God
near; still, that you may hear Him speak.
" Take heed of many words," said George Fox;
"keep down, keep low, that nothing may reign
in you but life itself."

The greatest saints avoided, when they could,
the society of men, and did rather choose to live
to God, in secret. A certain one said, "As oft
as I have been among men I returned home less a
man than I was before. Shut thy door upon
thee, and call unto Jesus, thy Beloved. Stay
with Him in thy closet, for thou shalt not find
elsewhere so great peace." How good it would
be to lay our hands on our mouths rather oftener,
whether in silence with our fellows, or in the
hour of secret prayer !

240

IVho then is he that can stand before Me f

Job xli. lo (R. v.).

THE first catechism had been on Job's knowl-
edge; now it turns on his power. The pivot of
the one was, K7iowest thou ? of the other, Canst
thou ? \i di man cannot stand before one of
God's creatures, how much less before the
Creator ! If we dread the wrath of the enraged
crocodile, what should not be our dread before
the wrath of the Eternal ? Canst thou stand be-
fore Him? Canst thou strive against Him, with
any hope of success ? Canst thou force thyself,
unbidden and unfit, into the presence of the Most
Holy? Thou couldst not intrude on an earthly
sovereign ; how much less on Him, in whose
sight the heavens are not clean ?

Eternal light ! eternal light !

How pure the soul must be,
"When placed within thy searching light.
It shrinks not, but with calm delight

Can live, and look on Thee !

But Jesus can make it possible. Through Him
we draw nigh to God. We have boldness to
enter into the Holiest of All by His Blood. We
may, through Him, be able to say, with Elijah,
" Thus saith Jehovah, before whom I stand."
Jesus is the minister of the heavenly sanctuary,
and in virtue of His office He is able to bring us
into, and maintain us within, the Most Holy
Place. He comes out to take us by the hand ;
and then, having fulfilled in us the good pleasure
of His will, He brings us in and places us before
the face of God forever. Like Solomon's serv-
ants, we evermore stand before the king, see His
face and hear His words.

The sons of ignorance and night
May dwell in the Eternal Light,
Through the Eternal Love.
241

Now mine eye seeth Thee : wherefore I abhor
myself, and repent in dust and ashes . Job xlU. 5, 6.

THIS is the clue to the entire book. Here is a
man, who was universally known as perfect and
upright, one that feared God, and eschewed evil ;
who abounded in beneficent and loving min-
istries to all who were in need ; to whom respect
and love flowed in a full tide. He was not con-
scious of any failure in perfect obedience, or of
secret sin ; indeed, when his friends endeavored
to account for his unparalleled calamities by sug-
gesting that there was some discrepancy between
his outward reputation and inward consistency,
he indignantly repelled the charge, and re-
pudiated the impeachment.

But there were inconsistencies and failures in
him that needed to be exposed and put away be-
fore he could attain to perfect blessedness and
enjoy unbroken peace. If man could not dis-
cover them, and if Job were unconscious of them,
they were, nevertheless, present, poisoning the
fountain of his being; as a hidden cesspool,
whose presence is undetected, may be doing a
deadly work of undermining the health of an en-
tire household. So God let the man into His
presence; and, like Isaiah, Ezekiel, Peter, and
many others, he at once confessed himself vile.
The light of the great white throne exposes all
unsuspected blemishes. Have you ever seen
God ! Oh, ask for that vision, that you may
know yourself 1 In proportion as we know God,
we abhor ourselves. Then Jesus becomes un-
speakably precious. Through His death we pass
into the true life, and begin to intercede for
others. We never have such power for the bless-
ing of the world as when we lie most humbly at
the feet of God.

242

A List of

Rev. F. B. Meyer's
Works

PUBLISHED BY

Fleming H. Revell Company

New York : 158 Fifth Avenue
Chicago : 63 Washington Street
Toronto : 154 Yonge Street

Latest Works.

Paul : A Servant of Jesus ChtisU

i2mo, cloth, $1.00.

"Of the many Sacred Biographies I have written, this has
been by far the most interesting. For days and weeks together
I have lived in the company of this glorious man; but only to
feel that he transcended all one's loftiest conceptions. Like
some great mountain range, the more his character is traversed,
the more it grows on the imagination."— /^r(??« i/ie Pre/ace.

" Mr. Meyer holds in his hand the key to his reader's heart
and conscience. He speaks to conscience with a kind of author-
ity which it is not easy to analyze and yet harder to resist. In
this volume he follows Paul's life through in a series of topics,
every one of which is rich in food for the Christian Hie."— The
Inde^>endent.

Saved and Kept.

Coun-^els to Young Believers. Long i6nio, cloth, 50c.

"It contains twenty-three short addresses, earnest, direct and
spiritual, as everything that comes from the pen of this devoted
preacher. He writes the preface on his fiftieth birthday, and
as he reviews the past, he longs to utilize the lessons and warn-
ings of his life for the benefit of his younger brothers and sis-
ters on each side of the Atlantic."— 7"^^ Evangelist.

Peace, Perfect Peace.

A Portion for the Sorrowing. i8mo, cloth, 25c.

"Though the book is a little one, it carries much more con-
solation than many larger volumes on the same subject. Mr.
Meyer does not remand sorrow to an imaginary realm, but
facing it in all its wearisomeness. he show? how faith in Christ
enables one to bear it and profit by it."— Ttu Congregationalht.

Cheer for Lifers Pilgrimage.

Long i6mo, cloth, 50c.

"This little book is one of the author's cheery helps for the
pilgrim in his life's journey. Like sweet songs his words soothe
and comfort and strengthen the heart, and help it to go for-
ward, whether in the peaceful home, or among the temptationr
of the world. Would that Christians had, or could give, more
time to such devotional and upbuilding reading." — The Chrh
tian Observer.

A Castaway, and Other Addresses.

i2mo, paper, 15c.; cloth, net 30c.

"Contains the sermons delivered by Mr. Meyer in New York,
Boston, and in part in Philadelphia, during his ten days' visit
tf this country last winter (Feb. 1897.) They treat of the hin-
drances to spiritual growth and power, of the evil of the natural
heart, so hard to overcome, of the only way of curing this evi.
by getting Christ into the heart, of the work of Christ and of
the Holy Spirit, and of the possibilities of the blessed life to
which the writer urgently summons his readers."— T"-*^ Suit-
day School Times.

The Christian Life Series.

Each i8mo, cloth decorated, 50 cents.

Thfough Fire and Flood.

" God's purpose running through our lives, often leading
•through fire and flood,' is set forth in these pages. The au-
thor's pungent and impressive style shapes the message for
encouragement and comfort."— The Presbyterian.

The Glorious Lord.

liblical knowledge and e
-.htnan.

Key Words of the Inner Life.

"It abounds in Biblical knowledge and evangelical earnest-
ness."— The Churchman,

"Mr. Meyer writes fluently and forcibly of the deep things
of God, and fosters spiritual hunger while he feeds it." — The
N. 1'. Observer.

Calvary to Pentecost,

"All Mr. Meyer's books are welcome, but none more than
this. It is rich food for the aspiring Christian." — The Standard.

The Futtire Tenses of the Blessed Life.

" Full of tender comfort and helpful suggestions." — Z4^/«-
terior.

The Present Tenses of the Blessed Life.

" He always has something to say that is suggestive, con-
stantly casts light upon the Scripture." — The S. S. Times,

Christian Living.

" Full of rich, ripe thought and strength and encouragement
for the Christian heart." — Christian Work.

The Shepherd Psalm.

■ These meditations on the twenty-third Psalm are earnest,
devout, practical."— /"y^^ Evangelist.

The ''Blessed Life'' Editions.

The following have been issued in the new '' Blessed Life
Series," i8mo, cloth, ink stampings, each 30 cents.

The Shepherd Psahn.

Christian Living.

The Present Tenses of the Blessed Life.

The Future Tenses of the 13Iessed Life.

Old Testament HEROEi>.

lamo, cloth, eight volumes, each $i.oo.

" Mr. Meyer is unsurpassed in recent times in his facuh^ ^,
helpfully and interestingly adapting studies of Old Testament
characters to modern needs. His work does not consist of
mere pious moralizing, but it is the product of a man evidently
of scholarly habits and attainments, and in close and practical
touch with the life of the people of the day, and with the
strongest and clearest convictions that the simple, plain gospel
of Christ, the divine and atoning Saviour, and the Bible the
very word of God, are indispensable to the salvation of the
world." — The United Presbyterian.

David: Shepherd, Psalmist, King.

" As in all his works, he has developed the spiritual and
practical lines, so that his book is not merely a record of
events, but the story of a great life, the reading of which will
be stimulating and profitable."— TVze^ Sunday School Times.

•Jeremiah: Priest and Prophet.

" It is at once a biography, an interpretation, and a teisea%d
practical application of^ divine truth to human life. It is
scholarly but not pitched on too high a key of learning for the
common reader." — The Congregationalist.

Joshua, and the Land of Promise,

■' The twenty chapters here given on the Book of Joshua are
so manv lines of light on the whole period and its main charac-
ters. The great leader stands out in relief, and his relations to
the age are traced with care and intelligence." — Zion's Herald,

Moses, the Servant of God.

*' The author's analysis of the character and history of
Moses is, in some respects, the best which we remember to
have seen. Th*- book is at once learned, and popular."— 7'/4df
Congregationalist.

Abraham? or, The Obedience of Faith.

" He is throughout reverent and thoughtful, and will point
out to many a reader unsuspected truth and beauty in the Holy
Srriptures." — The Watchman.

Elijah, and the Secret of His Power.

•• Good, exceedingly good. Mr. Meyer is a great gain to the
armies of evangelical truth, for his tone, spirit and aspirations
are all of a fine gospel sort. — C. H. Spurgeon in S%vord and
Trowel.

Israel, a Prince with God.

" No Christian is likely to read the volume ... with-
out being wiser, purer, happier and more devoted to his Mas-
ter. It surpasses any book we have seen on Jacob and his
eventful career." — The Baptist Magazine.

Joseph : Beloved — Hated — ^Exalted.

" We trust this welcome volume will find readers in all ranks
and classes, among old as well as young, and will perform a
blessed ministry of help and GT.tidance in the lif e v/hich is lif e
indeed ^^~-The Christian.

The Expository Series.

Four volumes, i2mo, cloth, each $i.oo.

Qifist in Isaiaiu

Expositions of Isaiah XL.-LV.

"The redemption of Israel out of Babylon is here made the
subject of a series of lucid and inspiriting expository essays,
covering the section of Isaiah's prophecy devoted to that
theme (Chapters 4o-;5). The quality of the author's work as ao
interpreter of Scripture is already well known and highly ap-
preciated in this country. Nothing thus far issued by him can,
in our judgment, deserve wider or longer favor than this apt,
keen-eyed, eloquent expansion of the prophet's inspired
words."— r^^r Watchman.

The Way Into the Holiest.

Expositions of the Epistle to the Hebrews.

"The aim of the author in this work is to deduce the great
spiritual lessons which are enshrined in the sublime words of
the epistle. It is needless to say that Mr. Meyer has admir-
ably succeeded in accomplishing his purpose. The expositions
as a whole strikingly show that Christ's death was substitu-
tionary, and they also exhibit the true relation of the Old Tes-
tament symbols of sacr-iice and priesthood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The greatness and glory of the Son of God are force-
fully illustrated, and the characteristics of the ideal Christian
life are finely described, as well as the nature of the discipline
by which the divine character is perfected in man. The ex-
positions are admirable specimens of lucid spiritual teaching
couched in simple, but eloquent language. Loyal disciples o?
Christ will prize this tribute to the honor of their Lord. It is 2
volume of rare worth."— 77^^ N. V. Observer.

The Life and Light of Men.

Expositions of John I. -XII.

"These expositions have the character of all Mr. Meyer's
writings. They combine devout insight into the rich resources
of the Word of God, with skill in adapting it to the spiritual
needs of his readers. He is earnest, practical, personal, and
he does not allow his good intentions to supply the place of re-
search and study, or to supersede the necessity of thinking for
himself. And he rises above the common mistake of devo-
tional writers, who assume that the same rules will suffice; and
the same experience is required of every believer."— /"A*? Sun-
day School Times.

Tried by Fire.
Expositions in the First Epistle of Peter.

"The popularity of Mr. Meyer's Expositions is a good sign
of the times. This latest is one of the best, and is full of
tender Christian wisdom. The chief charm of the book 'S its
earnest simplicity."— TA^ British H^eekiy.

"As is well known, Mr. Meyer's stvle is vivid in description
-..nd mostly deeply spiritual in insiylit and application." — The
Christian Advocate (.V. V.)

The Bells of Is.
tj^hoes from my Early Pastorates. With Portrait

i2mo, cloth, 75c.
" rnis book is brief— sixteen short chapters, each one a lime
psalm of life. Mr. Meyer has left the impress of his stronj?
personality on the book. It is full of his quiet reveries, his
outreaching toward God and toward souls, with practical sug-
gestions as to city missions, and relief of poverty and distress."
—A. T. PiERSON, D.D.

Prayers for Heart and Home.

Morning and Evening Devotions for a Month,
8vo, flexible cloth, round corners, 75c.

" Mr. Meyer has a gift of utterance in things spiritual such
as few men of the present day possess, and no Christian writer
of the day is better fitted by character, training and experience
to prepare a manual of worship than he. The volume will be
'ound helpful and stimulating in the highest and truest sense."
-Christia7i Work.

The Psahns.

Notes and Readings. i8mo, cloth, 6oc.
"An admirable little volume, which should prove helpful to
any preacher, while as the companion of the private student,
it should be invaluable." — The Quiver.

Light on Life's Duties, and The Secret of Guidance.

Two volumes of addresses. Each i2mo^ paper, 15c.;
cloth, net, 30c.

Choice Extracts from ** The First Steps.**
And Other Writings of Rev. P. B. Meyer, selected by
Rev. B. Fay Mills. 24mo, paper, each, 5c.; per dozen,
net, 35c. i6mo, large paper edition, 15c.

A Holy Temple.

An Address to Young Men. i8mo, paper, per dozen,

net, 20C.

Envelope Series of Booklets.

Per dozen, net, 20c.; per hundred, net, %\.^o„

A Keswick Exnerience. The Secret of Christ's Jndwell-
The Trivial Round, The Com- ang.

mon Task. Where Am "± Wrong

Peace, Perfect T'eace, Young Men, Don't Drif:.

The Secret of .^ower. The Lost Chord Found.

With Christ in Separation. How to Read Your Bible.

Seven Rules for Tail'- Living. The Secret of Guidance.

The Secret of Victory over Sin. The Biessed Dead.

The First Step into the Bless- Burdens, and What to do With

ed Life Them.

Words of Help for Christian In the Secret of His Presence.

Girls. Why Sign the Pledge.

The Filling of the Holy Spirit. The Chambers of the King.

Not Eradication. The Stew^ardship of Money.

How to Bear Sorrow. Comfort to be Comforted.

1 1012 01276 7770

;!!iiiiii"'

I,

,■11 P '"rr ■ ■. '

^^^

■^^^^^^^^^^^^■H